COLORADO SPRINGS — While Colorado is known for its beauty, the state is no stranger to climate change. From wildfires burning more acreage, to Denver experiencing the worst air quality globally this past summer, the state has been struggling.
In fact, from 2010-2020, Colorado experienced over 30 different extreme weather events, costing the state 50 billion dollars, according to the American Jobs Plan. The President’s Build Back Better Agenda is hoping to improve the state’s infrastructure from these catastrophic events.
The Build Back Better Agenda’s infrastructure plan has several details that would combat climate change in Colorado. The funding would go towards the development of clean energy, including clean vehicles, power plants to use renewable energy, clean drinking water, and clean energy jobs.
If approved as it is, 115 billion dollars of the infrastructure plan would go towards fixing bridges and roads, something that directly affects Colorado commuters. There are almost 500 bridges and over 3,500 miles of roads in the state.
“This is a unique moment in history, and it is amazing how a president has made climate change front and center in this conversation. In fact, over a trillion dollars has been dedicated to addressing climate change. So that’s more than ten times the amount of funding that was in the 2009 recovery act and half of that would go to transportation and infrastructure,” said Matthew Garrington, Senior Manager at the Environmental Defense Action Fund.
“Driving money into things like easy infrastructure, it makes it easy for every Coloradan to be able to participate in those types of climate solutions. We're all going to be using buildings when we go to work. Are those buildings energy efficient? Are they heat efficient? Can we make renovation and innovation and new buildings smarter and greener?
Biden’s plan also aims to help Veterans. 18 billion dollars to go towards the infrastructure of VA Facilities, something that would directly impact the over 400,000 veterans in our state. Now we don’t know what’s going to end up in the final package.
But Matthew says they are hoping that the final package will prioritize climate change and help get Colorado on the path it needs to reach its climate goals. For more details on this complex plan, visit here.
