- While the Biden administration has frequently claimed that its massive climate action will benefit minorities and America's working class, several socio-economic experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that He said that was not true.
- The administration's climate change policies seek to change, among other things, the cars Americans drive, the appliances they use, and the power grid that supports the economy, all of which the administration claims will ultimately It does not benefit any population group, experts told DCNF. .
- “In a city where it's really hard to pay rent, it's going to be terrible when electricity bills go up. It's going to be really bad when the cost of installing appliances goes up,” said Consumers Union Executive Director. OH Skinner told DCNF.
The Biden administration has touted broad climate action as benefiting both minority communities and the working class, but experts say these groups will bear the brunt of environmental policy advances. He states that he is deaf.
Vice President Kamala Harris recently stated the Biden administration's climate change agenda Estimation The plan, which includes $1 trillion in government spending, will prioritize the interests of ethnic minority communities in particular, while providing environmental protection to blue-collar workers who may be displaced from industrial jobs and emissions-intensive sectors of the economy. It is designed with the purpose of providing friendly work to the people. But experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that both demographic groups will ultimately endure the most severe economic stress caused by the green agenda of any population segment.
Over the next few decades, the Biden administration will reshape the U.S. power grid, effectively mandating the mass production and deployment of relatively expensive electric vehicles (EVs) and making it easier for Americans to buy more efficient and more expensive household vehicles. They want to encourage the use of electronics and support state and local governments. The government is developing the latest building standards with the aim of “decarbonizing” buildings. Governments deploy subsidy programs or spend large sums of tax money to achieve these objectives, often applying so-called “Justice 40'' guidelines to environmental spending. (Related: New York City's climate change policies could make middle-class life even more 'unaffordable')
Joe Biden says we need “environmental justice so we can turn on the faucet and drink water and breathe clean air.”
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 15, 2020
The Justice 40 initiative tells federal agencies that 40% of all profits from certain federal investments go to marginalized, underserved, and overburdened communities. It obliges them to strive to ensure that their resources flow to disadvantaged communities. according to To the White House. The initiative effectively directs federal agencies to put race at the center of certain climate change and infrastructure spending programs, although the government has not said so explicitly. according to To the Washington Free Beacon.
A key pillar of Mr. Biden's climate change policy is the Inflation Control Act (IRA), signed into law in August 2022. On the day the bill was signed into law, the White House said: promised The IRA “will lower energy costs for Black families and create thousands of good jobs, while reducing climate pollution and ensuring a clean and secure future energy supply.”
“For too long, communities that bear the brunt of power plants and industrial pollution have been left behind and left behind,” said John Podesta, senior advisor to the president for clean energy innovation and deployment. Said “The Control Inflation Act and President Biden’s Justice 40 Initiative will change that by bringing new investment, clean energy, and good-paying jobs to underserved communities.”
But Donna Jackson, membership director for the National Center for Project 21 Black Leadership Network, says government spending and a focus on “environmental justice” are designed to ensure such efforts pay dividends. I'm not convinced that it will actually change the demographics of the population.
“Right now, the number one priority for Black communities is homeownership. Environmental policies make it more expensive to build housing,” Jackson told DCNF. “Materials are more expensive and environmental regulatory requirements add cost, leading to higher housing prices. New affordable housing developments are often delayed or canceled altogether due to environmental impacts. “many'', which “contributes to an artificial housing shortage and also leads to higher housing prices.''
“For communities with low education rates, the country's green agenda of deindustrialization is a financial disaster for minority communities,” Jackson added.
For example, as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeks to update its air quality standards for particulate matter, industry executives said in November 2023 that the measure, if implemented and enforced, would result in job losses and He warned that it would impair his abilities.
Biden: “We will create good jobs for millions of Americans…and we will do everything we can to withstand the devastating effects of climate change and advance environmental justice.” Said During the 2022 State of the Union Address.
OH Skinner, executive director of Consumers Union, told DCNF that in addition to the cost of purchasing a home, the government's push to make appliances more efficient will also increase the daily cost of living in a home. His organization estimates that the Biden administration's sweeping rollout of consumer electronics regulations could cost American homeowners more than $9,000 upfront.
“In a city where it's really hard to pay rent, when your electric bill goes up, it's going to be terrible. When the cost of installing appliances goes up, that's going to be really terrible,” Skinner told DCNF. “For people looking to own a home, these policies gobble up budgets without giving them options. These policies will hit families even harder, forcing them to live at a higher cost of living than they currently do due to inflation.” It’s very painful to impose on people who don’t have it.”
In addition to stable, well-paying employment, homeownership has become a cornerstone of the “American Dream” as an important means of increasing intergenerational socio-economic mobility. Among homeowners, home equity accounted for a median of 45% of net worth in 2021. according to To Pew Research Center.
In 2022, the median household income for African American households was approximately $52,800 and for Hispanic households $62,800, compared to $81,000 for white households. according to Donate to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. As of June 2023, the top 10% of American households control approximately 70% of the total household wealth, while the bottom 50% controls only 2.5% of the nation's total household wealth. I don't know. according to to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
“High-cost energy is a regressive tax on the least well-off and disproportionately harms them… By making energy more expensive and less reliable, we Economic opportunities will decrease,” says Jonathan Lesser, an adjunct fellow. A professor at the Manhattan Institute and president of Continental Economics also spoke to DCNF. “The best approach to improving economic conditions for low-income people (of all skin colors) is to ensure affordable, reliable, and abundant energy supplies. This provides a strong foundation, including increased wages and wages.”
“I think the membership of many environmental groups is made up almost entirely of wealthy progressives, with a small minority,” Lesser continued. “I don't believe that environmental policy is about improving the lives of marginalized communities. It's about more power and more money for elites.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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