Letter: 260+ Clean Energy Employers Urge Congress to Act Now on Build Back Better Act

Over 260 companies employing tens of thousands of Americans in the clean energy sector urged congressional action on the Build Back Better Act in a new letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The letter states the Act is a, “once-in-a-generation opportunity for Congress to take big, bold action to deliver the clean energy future Americans want and deserve.”

Press Release

The full text of the industry letter follows:

January 24, 2022

Dear Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi:

As companies committed to building America’s clean energy future, we write to thank you for your leadership and to encourage you to finalize negotiations on the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) as soon as possible this year. The time to act is now.

Each month of delay means an estimated $2 billion in lost economic activity. That means missed economic opportunities in energy transition communities. That means fewer jobs in domestic mills producing steel for solar and wind projects. And it means a delay in building the American manufacturing base and workforce into a global clean energy powerhouse.

The clean energy and manufacturing provisions in the BBBA must take effect January 1, 2022 to take full advantage of the unprecedented private sector commitment to clean energy projects and to create good paying jobs in every state. As leaders in the clean energy industry, we stand ready to deploy tens of billions of dollars to expand our domestic manufacturing capacity and to employ American workers to build the equipment and projects to power our clean energy transition.

The Build Back Better Act will more than double clean energy investment to $750 billion over the next ten years, supporting one million, good-paying American jobs over the same period of time. As a result, the United States will be able to reach 750 GW of wind, solar and battery storage by 2030 and cut power sector emissions by nearly 70% below 2005 levels. That is the equivalent of 175 million American homes being powered by low-cost, reliable clean energy.

These clean energy initiatives represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Congress to take big, bold action to deliver the clean energy future Americans want and deserve. We stand with you to get that job done.