Their Take: Arizona Technology Council Commends U.S. House for Passing BBBA

The US House passed President Biden’s Build Back Better Act (BBBA), heavily supported by the Arizona Technology Council, sending the jobs and climate measures to the U.S. Senate. The BBBA is the most significant investment in clean energy and remedies to counteract climate change in U.S. history. This vote is a major step on the path toward reducing the carbon pollution that drives climate change while creating jobs and lowering costs for millions of Arizonans. The Council advocates the Senate must move swiftly to pass the BBBA and its climate provisions.

“The Council thanks the House and Rep. Tom O’Halleran for taking the lead on clean energy and supporting a budget that cuts pollution, lowers energy costs for families and boosts Arizona’s economy,” said Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Council. “Supporting and investing in clean energy solutions are critical to the health of our ecosystem, as well as the growth of our economy and technology sector. We now need Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly to follow O’Halleran’s lead and vote for the Build Back Better Act.”

If signed into law, the BBBA would set the U.S. on a path toward a reduction of up to 52% in carbon pollution by 2030. That’s the same goal scientists say is necessary to prevent the worst impacts of climate change. Time is running out and Arizona needs all its elected officials to support the act.

The Council has been a major advocate of the BBBA and its promise of expanding the clean energy economy and creating millions of new jobs. In early November, Zylstra penned an op-ed for the Arizona Capitol Times supporting passage of the BBBA. In addition, the Council and its partners have made clean energy investment and innovation a legislative priority for 2022 and beyond in their 2022 Public Policy Guide.

Here is what is included in this historic legislation:

• Sustainability: Climate policies to put the U.S. on the path toward cutting our climate pollution in half by 2030, investing directly in communities of color too often left behind and creating good-paying union jobs.
• Home Efficiency: $3.5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program to help low-income households increase energy efficiency and reduce bills and emissions.
• Grid Modernization: $5 billion in grants for resiliency and $5 billion for innovative reliability upgrades with $1 billion aimed at rural communities.
• Electric Vehicles: Tax credits for consumers who purchase EVs of up to $12,500 per vehicle. These incentives would have a critical impact on climate and air pollution by inducing rapid market transformation and improving air quality in high traffic areas. Arizona-based Lucid Motors recently won Car of the Year from MotorTrend for its car, the Lucid Air. Along with a clean grid, rapid electrification of passenger vehicles and medium- and heavy-duty trucks would prevent 150,000 pollution-related deaths and save consumers $2.7 trillion by 2050.
• Electric Vehicle Charging: $5 billion to help states deploy EV charging infrastructure and $2.5 billion in competitive grants for EV charging and other alternative fuel infrastructure.
• Orphaned Wells: $4.7 billion to plug methane leaks and remediate environmental damage at abandoned oil and gas wells. @ThirdWayEnergy has estimated this would clean up 250,000 wells and create an average of 10,000 jobs over five years.
• Research and Development: Nearly $30 billion to deliver additional tools to cut emissions and keep U.S. workers and industries ahead of the curve in the global energy market.
• Job Training: BBBA training programs would prepare Arizona’s workers for high-quality jobs in fast-growing sectors like public health, child care, manufacturing, information technology and clean energy. Nineteen Arizona community colleges would have the opportunity to benefit from grants to develop and deliver innovative training programs and expand proven ones.

The Arizona Technology Council is Arizona’s premier trade association for science and technology companies. Recognized as having a diverse professional business community, Council members work towards furthering the advancement of technology in Arizona through leadership, education, legislation and social action. The Council offers numerous events, educational forums and business conferences that bring together visionaries, leaders and employees to make an impact on the technology industry. These interactions contribute to the Council’s culture of growing member businesses and transforming technology in Arizona.