U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff visited Raleigh last Friday, as part of the Biden Administration’s national campaign for the clean transportation and renewable energy elements of his infrastructure plan.
During their stops, Buttigieg and Emhoff focused on the mobility and job-producing benefits of the plan’s investments in electric vehicles, improving rail transit, and expanding the Amtrak national passenger rail service. They spoke with workers at a local Teamsters union hall, and toured labs involved in sustainable infrastructure development at NC State University. They finished the day’s stops at Raleigh’s Union Station, an Amtrak rail and bus service hub and possible future regional commuter rail stop, plans for which were unveiled by GoTriangle the day prior. Also speaking at Union Station were Amtrak President Stephen Gardner, Gov. Roy Cooper, U.S. Representatives David Price and Deborah Ross, and Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin.
Dan Crawford, our Director of Governmental Relations, said “North Carolinians love traveling the Good Road State from the Outer Banks to the Blue Ridge Parkway. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan will make it easier and less expensive for us to explore our beautiful state in electric cars we can charge readily or in rail cars from Asheville to Wilmington and beyond. It’s a jobs plan, a tourism plan, a health plan, an energy infrastructure plan, and a climate plan rolled into one. We’re glad Secretary Buttigieg and Second Gentleman Emhoff are here in Raleigh today to show how this plan will help every North Carolinian live a healthier, more prosperous life for longer into the future.”
Last Thursday, leading into the Buttigieg and Emhoff visit, our Executive Director Carrie Clark co-wrote a Fayetteville Observer column promoting the American Jobs Plan with MaryBe McMillan, President of the North Carolina State AFL-CIO. “This is a fight that unites the environmental and labor communities. We don’t have to choose between a healthy environment and a healthy economy,” they wrote.
Tell your members of Congress to Build Back Better by supporting the president’s plan! Click here to send them a message.
While Buttigieg and Emhoff were here Friday, President Biden marked Amtrak’s 50th anniversary at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station. He recalled his years in the U.S. Senate, when he was known as “Amtrak Joe” because he made a daily rail commute between Washington and his family home in Delaware. Biden’s stop was part of his continuing pitch for the American Jobs Plan following his first address to a joint session of Congress Wednesday night.
That address included a focus on infrastructure investments in clean energy, environmental justice, and an improved, more balanced transportation system. Commenting on that address, national League of Conservation Voters (LCV) President Gene Karpinski said, “President Biden made clear once again that he is centering communities and justice in our recovery, from the workers who built this country to the people who have been left out of economic opportunity and disproportionately impacted by the nation’s four interconnected crises. The stakes of the climate crisis couldn’t be higher, and in order to help cut carbon pollution, address environmental and economic injustice, and continue on this path of economic recovery, we must invest in infrastructure that creates millions of good-paying union jobs — including clean energy jobs — across the country.”
We live-tweeted the president’s speech. A few of our tweets you can retweet:
The largest jobs plan since WWII. Thanks, @POTUS!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
Jobs building transit lines and rail lines. Jobs replacing 100% of the nation’s lead pipes and service lines so every American can drink clean water. Thanks, @POTUS!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
Jobs creating a modern power grid, laying thousands of miles of transmission lines creating a fully resilient grid. Thanks, @POTUS!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
The #ClimateCrisis = jobs jobs jobs. Amen, @POTUS!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
Nearly 90% of the #AmericanJobsPlan jobs don’t require a college degree. It’s a blue-collar blueprint to build America. Yes, @POTUS!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
We have to dominate the economy of the future. Advanced batteries. Clean energy. Thanks, @POTUS!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
Electrical workers from @IBEW building millions of charging stations so we can own the electric card market. Yes, @POTUS!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
The middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class. Congress, pass the #PROAct, raise the minimum wage to $15/hr, and ensure equal pay for equal work. Amen, @POTUS!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
The pay gap between polluter CEOs and average workers is the biggest it’s ever been. We agree with @POTUS — that’s not right!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
“We’ve all seen the knee of injustice on the neck of African Americans.” We join @POTUS‘ call for justice.#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
“Congress should pass #HR1 / #S1 and the #JohnLewisVotingRightsAct and send them to my desk.” Do what @POTUS says, Congress!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
We the People are the government, not some distant force in a far-off capitol. We all must do our part. Yes, @POTUS!#JointAddress #JointSession #BuildBackBetter #AmericanJobsPlan #ClimateRecovery
— NC League of Conservation Voters (@nclcv) April 29, 2021
