CLEVELAND – As the U.S. House of Representatives nears a vote on the Build Back Better Act, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) joined the BlueGreen Alliance, Ohio AFL-CIO, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Policy Matters Ohio, and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) for a virtual press briefing on the need to pass the bill.

Speakers discussed how provisions in the Build Back Better bill—including strong provisions to strengthen and rebuild domestic manufacturing and an updated electric vehicles (EV) consumer tax credit—coupled with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)—signed into law by President Biden Monday—will help ensure that the technologies of the future are built in America and that jobs in the clean economy are good jobs.

“These two bills together have the potential to truly revitalize manufacturing in Ohio,” said Tim Burga, President of the Ohio AFL-CIO. “We have one bill passed, it’s past time to get the Build Back Better bill over the finish line. Our workers here at home are ready and waiting to take the lead on building the next generation of clean technology.”

The Build Back Better Bill makes investments to deploy clean energy and clean vehicles—with strong labor and domestic content standards—and to support the growth of clean technology manufacturing and supply chains, modernize and cut emissions from industry, and reinvest in manufacturing communities. 

“The Build Back Better Act will create good-paying, union jobs here in Ohio and across the country and fight climate change and economic and racial inequity,” said Lee Geisse, Ohio Regional Program Manager with the BlueGreen Alliance. “Provisions in the bill can reverse decades of offshoring, fill critical supply chain gaps with products made in America and in Ohio, and ensure that workers and communities in Ohio and across the United States see gains from the coming shift to EVs. The actions that Congress takes now will determine whether we lead in manufacturing and deploying the technologies of the future. We need them to pass the Build Back Better Act now.”

“The provisions in this bill make great strides to safeguard and create good jobs in a clean, fair, prosperous manufacturing economy in the United States–while at the same time reversing decades of offshoring and other adverse climate and labor impacts worldwide,” said Amanda Woodrum, Senior Researcher, Policy Matters Ohio. “The manufacturing investments in the Build Back Better Act will help create good paying jobs in communities right here in Ohio and across the country. We urge the House to pass it this week.”

The bill includes a number of provisions to revitalize the nation’s manufacturing sector and position the United States as a leader in clean technology, including: $110 billion to spur new domestic supply chains and the manufacturing of technologies like solar, batteries, and advanced materials, while modernizing and cutting emissions from essential basic industries like steel, cement, and aluminum; $320 billion in clean energy tax credits with labor and domestic content standards; and an updated electric vehicle tax credit that will lower the cost of purchasing electric vehicles while speeding the deployment of EVs made in America by union workers. The bill also makes historic investments to fight climate change and strengthen our care economy.

“As electrical workers, the investments in the Build Back Better Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will play a big role in shaping the future of our industry,” said Ed Moore, District 4 International Service Representative for IBEW. “Importantly, both of these bills take steps to ensure that the jobs created are good paying union jobs. Through provisions like prevailing wage and support for apprenticeships we can make sure that the clean economy is a fair and prosperous economy that works for all.”

“The energy transition will be what we make of it. If we approach this the right way, putting workers and communities first–as in the Build Back Better Act–we can harness this opportunity to build a clean, prosperous, and equitable economy,” said Daniel Sawmiller, Ohio Energy Policy Director with NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). 

“Taken together, the Build Back Better Act’s package of critical auto sector investments has the potential to transform not only the vehicles we drive in, but also the lives of the workers who build them—ensuring a clean, prosperous, and equitable future for all,” said Reem Rayef, Policy Advisory with the BlueGreen Alliance.

Video from the event can be viewed here and downloaded here.