Michigan Is Ready For The American Jobs Plan

President Biden’s trip to Detroit highlights how Michiganders benefit from the American Jobs Plan’s big, bold investments

Clean Energy Investment Means Jobs For Michigan. Building the clean energy economy can help Detroit’s economic recovery by putting even more people to work building clean energy sources, making buildings and homes more energy efficient, and restoring our public lands.

Michigan is already home to 113,456 jobs in the clean energy sector, including generating clean renewable energy and improving energy efficiency.
Michigan ranks 2nd in the nation for rural clean energy employment. In 2020, Michigan had a total of 22,574 rural clean energy jobs.
President Biden’s plan to invest in electric vehicle charging stations and to purchase electric vehicles for government fleets can help jumpstart new manufacturing jobs in Detroit.

Detroit Can’t Afford To Let China Corner The Market On EVs. Electric vehicles represent the future of the auto industry (the backbone of the U.S. economy), which we can’t afford to cede to China (the world’s largest auto buyer), and Europe (the world leader in EV investment).

Researchers at CSIS warn that if China takes too much of a lead in the electric vehicle market, it will threaten the U.S. ability to compete in this area.
The Chinese government, which had already invested $60 billion into electric vehicles before the pandemic, is placing electric vehicles at the center of their coronavirus recovery package with an eye to increase electric vehicles from 5% of the market to 25% in the next 5 years.

Detroit Needs Investments In Infrastructure And Clean Energy. Climate change and pollution are having strong impacts on Michigan and continuing to rely on fossil fuels is only hurting Michiganders in the long run.

Scientists have linked an increase in heavy downpours to climate change. In the last decade, Michigan has experienced severe flooding events that caused a total of at least $12 billion in damages and 5 deaths.
- Twenty toxic sites in Michigan are at risk of flooding and releasing contaminants due to climate change.
In 2020, eight counties in Michigan received an F grade for ozone pollution, and Detroit was ranked the 12th worst city in America for particle pollution.

Nearby Black Residents Face Disproportionate Levels Of Pollution. Just across the Rouge River from Ford’s Rouge Complex is Michigan’s most polluted zip code.

The most polluted ZIP code in Michigan, 48217, is 81% Black. Four of the five most polluting refineries in Michigan are within five miles of this ZIP code.
African American and Latinos in Michigan have suffered the burden of air pollution for decades. Counties like Wayne county are the epicenter of a pollution crisis that has resulted in at least 70 deaths each year.
The American Jobs Plan allocates 40% of the total investment in climate and clean infrastructure to disadvantaged communities.

Michiganders Want Bold Solutions. Strong investments in building the clean energy economy is the right thing to do politically because outside of the partisan gridlock of Washington, investing in new jobs to address the climate crisis is what the voters want.

According to a survey conducted by Data for Progress:

80% of Michiganders Support The American Jobs Plan
82% of Michiganders Support Investments In Clean Energy Jobs
79% of Michiganders Want Congressional Action on Climate Change