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With many of the day-to-day costs worldwide continuing to surge, new measures are being taken to help lessen the amount of money spent by the average citizen. On Wednesday, March 30th, President Biden of the United States announced his pending plan to spend $3.16 billion on adding new components to hundreds of thousands of homes in low-income areas to make them more energy-efficient. This new plan was possible because of Biden’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law in 2021. Around 450,000 new homes will be retrofitted because of the newly acquired budget. This amount of homes is a major increase over the previous amount, around 38,000. The new additions and renovations will involve electrification, heat pumps, LED lighting, insulation, and sealing up leaks. These upgrades will help make homes more energy-efficient and help cut down on monthly energy bills and gas emissions.
The new funding is expected to help contain many carbon emissions released by households within disadvantaged communities. The recent renovations solve the more significant issue, and the newly funded spending is the effect that it will have on the planet. In 2019 there were close to 6.558 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere by the United States. These gas emissions are caused by burning fuel power or heat, chemical reactions, and industrial processes or equipment leaks. The electricity produced from businesses and homes represents an estimated 13% of the country’s climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions. This new funding is expected to assist Biden in his plan to cut greenhouse emissions in half by 2030. In addition, much of the bill will be used to help homeowners transition from traditional gas or oil-burning furnaces and energy using air conditioners to electric heat pumps. This will help heat and cool homes while having a more negligible effect on the environment.
The Biden Administration has also announced many other climate-related measures being put in place. This will include new energy code requirements for federal buildings and new efficiency standards for residential air conditioners and pool heaters. In addition, the General Services Administration also announced new conditions that require federal contractors to use concrete and asphalt with a low carbon footprint to help enforce a more environmentally-friendly culture.
The current most energy-efficient country for their economy is Germany, while the United States ranks thirteenth. With this new bill, the United States seeks to raise its place while also combatting significant climate issues when the Trump Administration pulled the country out of the Paris Agreement. It will also help boost the construction industry, currently valued at about $10 trillion.
Biden’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill looks like it will significantly affect the greenhouse gas emissions released by the US. It also highlights a campaign to become more environmentally friendly and help clean up the planet. On top of this, many homeowners will benefit from the newly acquired energy-saving renovations. There will be significant financial implications and environmental effects because of the efforts being put in place in a part of the bill.
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