Proposal from Sen. Sanders and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez calls for updating public housing into zero-carbon, energy-efficient communities that produce on-site renewable energy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, are pushing for a bigger slice of President Biden\u2019s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan to modernize public housing with renewable energy and other climate-minded initiatives that historically have left out the most vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Green New Deal for Public Housing Act invests up to $172 billion over 10 years in sustainable retrofits. The proposed legislation<\/a> from Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez \u2014 who with Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, was among the first lawmakers to push in 2019 for sweeping climate-change legislation that would warrant a historic name like the Green New Deal<\/a> \u2014 calls for turning the entire public housing system into zero-carbon, highly energy-efficient communities that produce on-site renewable energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Biden detailed his proposal in March, he called for roughly $40 billion to improve public housing infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The AOC-Sanders proposal hits during a week that the Biden administration is hosting world leaders to reassure them of U.S. seriousness<\/a> in combating manmade global warming. It also comes as some Democrats are mulling downsizing Biden\u2019s infrastructure plan to try to secure at least the minimum of 10 Republican votes needed to beat the Senate\u2019s 60-vote filibuster threshold. Republicans have argued the infrastructure effort in current form carries too large a price tag for taxpayers and that the \u201cinfrastructure\u201d label has served as a \u201cTrojan horse\u201d for the broader Democratic agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n