Democratic U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich on Tuesday introduced a resolution calling for policies to accelerate the widespread electrification of the economy and slash the use of fossil fuels.
The move comes as congressional Democrats are seeking to advance President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan to build out clean energy and combat climate change. The plan has faced resistance from Republicans over the price tag, scope and funding.
Heinrich’s non-binding Electrifying America’s Future resolution includes calls for electrifying polluting sectors like construction and transportation, expanding interregional transmission capacity, boosting financing for electric technologies and modernizing building codes to encourage adoption of electric appliances.
“This must be informing our decisions about infrastructure,” Heinrich said at a press conference to unveil the resolution.
Electrifying infrastructure would deploy existing, proven technologies and create millions of good-paying union jobs, he said.
Proponents of switching high-emitting industries to run on electricity want buildings, vehicles and machinery to be powered by an emissions-free grid rather than oil or natural gas. The fossil fuel industry says many emerging electric technologies are simply unaffordable.
