A Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. Late last week, the bipartisan Senate group arrived to an agreement that had the support from President Biden. This agreement is largely for roads and bridges with a headline number approaching $1trillion or $600mm in new spending. Given what happened in my neighborhood, the Surfside tower collapsing and likely killing over 100, the need to improve infrastructure is a no-brainer. Biden advisors had to clean up a veiled veto threat over the weekend.
What’s Not In It. Solar and cleantech tax credit extensions and expansions are not expected to be in the legislative language. (They won’t be in this bill) The clean energy standard is also not included.
But Wait, There’s More (Maybe). Part of the dust up this weekend was Biden’s comment that he will pursue a second infrastructure bill for items that would not have bipartisan support via reconciliation, something that Manchin has already supported. The comments included a veiled threat that if the bill does not pass reconciliation, he would no longer support the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Of course that’s the truth and the reality of the politics but saying it out loud puts the republican Senators on notice and they have to pretend to be upset.
PR Win Anniversary. I’ve had the pleasure to be involved in telling and pitching many great stories in my career. Most of the time it comes as part of a pitch or relationship with a reported to tell a particular story. The coverage I am most proud of wasn’t pitched to a reporter, it was an action that was covered by reporters at CNN. June 26th is the day that the Supreme Court legalized marriage equality and it was a great day in America. On that day, I was the Global Head of Marketing and PR for Conergy and we posted a tweet in support that landed us on a list with Google, HBO and Gap.
- Politico: Republicans back on board after Biden’s infrastructure clean-up
- Vox: 6 crucial climate actions the Senate left out of its infrastructure deal
- Grist: What’s in the new bipartisan infrastructure deal
- Reuters: REUTERS EVENTS Finance executives urge govt incentives to spur energy transition
- Canary Media: California just OK’d a massive new build-out of renewables and clean storage
- PV-Tech: Masdar secures deal to develop at least 2GW of solar in Iraq
- PV-Magazine: Reviewing energy storage targets as Maine becomes the ninth state to participate
Opinion
Best, Yann