May 06, 2024

Warren, Garcia Reintroduce BUILD GREEN Act to Electrify and Modernize the Nation’s Transportation Infrastructure

Text of Bill (PDF) | One-Pager (PDF) 

Washington, D.C. – Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Congressman Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) reintroduced the BUILD GREEN Infrastructure and Jobs Act, which would authorize the U.S. Department of Transportation to distribute $500 billion over ten years to electrify and modernize public vehicles and rail and build new electric transportation infrastructure across the country. This funding would be available under President Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act. The bill would also create 1 million new jobs, save $100 billion annually in health damages, and prevent 4,200 deaths per year from air pollution.

“The time to accelerate towards a clean energy future is now,” said Senator Warren. “Modernizing our transportation grid will pump billions into the economy, create green union jobs, and safeguard against the worst effects of climate change. That’s good news across the board.”

“By making crucial investments into electrifying public transportation and implementing sustainable technologies, we can effectively tackle the climate crisis while building a well-paid workforce and green economy,” said Congressman Garcia. “The BUILD GREEN Act allows communities nationwide to take the steps necessary to create a future that is cleaner and greener, paving the way for generations to come. The time to act is now.”

"We need to think big enough on public transit to ensure that every single person can take fast, reliable, green public transportation wherever they need to go, and that's what the Build GREEN Act would make possible,” said Saul Levin, Legislative & Political Director at the Green New Deal Network. “The Build GREEN Act would not only provide more than enough funding for every unfunded transportation project on the Federal Transit Administration's docket, but it would also prioritize frontline and rural communities' needs and give transportation workers the top-notch wages, benefits, and protections they deserve. This legislation will build on the best programs of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act, and speed us along the tracks towards a Green New Deal for Transportation.”

The bill is cosponsored by Senators Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 

In the House, the legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Cory Bush (D-Mo.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Jesús "Chuy" García (D-Ill.), Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.), Jerry Nadler (D.N.Y.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Juan Vargas (D-Calif.), and Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.)

The bill is endorsed by the following organizations: America Walks, Climate and Community Project, Climate Hawks Vote, Evergreen Action, Friends of the Earth, GreenLatinos, Green New Deal Network, Metropolitan Planning Council, Move LA, National Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Streets for All, Sustain Charlotte, TransForm, Transportation Riders United, Wisconsin Transit Riders Alliance, Zero Hour. 

Senator Warren has championed green legislation and advocated for federal funding in green infrastructure to jumpstart the transition to all-electric public vehicles and rail and to help tackle the climate crisis: 

  • In January 2024, Senators Warren and Markey announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is awarding Massachusetts funding for 85 electric school buses under the Clean Bus Grant Program to help school districts replace polluting diesel school buses with electric or low-emission school buses. 

  • In July 2023, Senator Warren sent a letter to the Massachusetts Municipal Association, Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents and 33 Commonwealth municipalities, highlighting the benefits of electrifying the Commonwealth’s school bus fleets and encouraging the Associations and their members to take full advantage of the newly-announced EPA Clean School Bus Grants Program Notice of Funding Opportunity.

  • In June 2023, Senator Warren sent a letter to the Massachusetts Municipal Association, Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents and 33 Commonwealth municipalities, highlighting the benefits of electrifying the Commonwealth’s school bus fleets and encouraging the Associations and their members to take full advantage of the newly-announced EPA Clean School Bus (CSB) Grants Program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

  • The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill’s EPA Clean School Bus Program, with a historic $5 billion investment for low- and zero-emission school buses, was modeled from Senator Warren’s BUILD GREEN Infrastructure and Jobs Act, which would provide $500 billion in grant funding over ten years for modernizing our infrastructure and electrifying public transit systems, including school buses.

  • The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, includes $1 billion for states, municipalities, tribes, and nonprofit school transportation associations to use for clean heavy duty vehicles, like school and transit buses and garbage trucks, all in part funded by Senator Warren’s Corporate Profits Minimum Tax to ensure America’s largest corporations pay at least 15% of their massive profits in federal taxes.

  • In May 2021, Senator Warren and Congressman Levin (D-Mich.) introduced the Buy Green Act of 2021. First announced in March 2021, the bill would establish $1.5 trillion in federal procurement commitments over the next ten years to purchase American-made clean, renewable, and emission-free energy products for federal, state, and local use. The bill also establishes a grant program for U.S. companies to invest in clean energy manufacturing.

  • In May 2021, in a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Senator Warren made the case for large-scale federal investments in green infrastructure, as well as her Wealth Tax and other tax proposals as a way to pay for these investments. 

  • In April 2021, in a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing, Senator Warren made the case for the need to tackle climate change by investing in our nation's clean energy infrastructure, including the replacement of buses powered by diesel with electric buses. 

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