Today the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Climate Policy Office (CPO) will announce new actions under the Federal Buy Clean Initiative to spur the development of low-carbon construction materials. Ahead of the announcement, the BlueGreen Alliance released a new white paper entitled Buy Clean: A Tool to Create Good Jobs, Cut Pollution, and Renew Manufacturing.

There are a number of ways that Buy Clean helps to ensure that government spending on infrastructure projects reduces pollution, revitalizes American manufacturing, and benefits workers and communities. Here are just a few, explored in more detail in a report entitled Buy Clean: A Tool to Create Good Jobs, Cut Pollution, and Renew Manufacturing:

Two new reports released by Global Efficiency Intelligence (GEI) add to the evidence that policies prioritizing clean manufacturing can be a win-win-win for clean air, worker and community health, and good union jobs. The reports—which were commissioned by the Sierra Club in partnership with BlueGreen Alliance—compare air pollution levels from steel and cement production in various countries. 

In April, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released new guidance on the application of the Build America, Buy America (BABA) policy in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) signed by President Biden last year.

Gov. Jared Polis is expected to sign SB22-051, Policies To Reduce Emissions From Built Environment. The bill establishes a tax incentive for the installation of heat pumps in buildings and includes provisions requiring that certified contractors complete larger-scale projects. Additionally, a Buy Clean incentive, which encourages the use of building materials produced with lower emissions, will start in July 2024.

A new study finds the United States to be among the cleanest steel producing nations. This study shows that American steel manufacturers are poised to lead the industrial transformation that can help reassert U.S. leadership in manufacturing, create good jobs and fight climate change.

In this study Global Efficiency Intelligence conducted a benchmarking analysis for energy and CO2 emissions intensities of the steel industry among the largest steel-producing countries.

Oregon State Governor Kate Brown has signed into law House Bill 4139, which will ensure the state is modernizing infrastructure in a more environmentally friendly way to fight climate change. The new law, Buy Clean Oregon, will require state regulators to conduct life cycle assessments for select construction and maintenance materials used for public infrastructure…

The Biden administration today announced the formation of a Buy Clean Task Force, as part of a larger strategy to reinvigorate American manufacturing and reduce emissions from the industrial sector. Buy Clean promotes spending taxpayer dollars on materials that are manufactured in a cleaner, more efficient, environmentally-friendly manner.

Buy Clean and Buy Fair policies promote spending taxpayer dollars on materials that are manufactured with high environmental and labor standards. This harnesses existing state spending to cut industrial carbon emissions and level the playing field for local and domestic manufacturers with responsible business practices that invest in reducing pollution. The Buy Clean and Buy…

The BlueGreen Alliance submitted comments outlining the pathways for the Federal Government to use its scale and procurement power to help achieve net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050 and launching the first-ever national Buy Clean initiative with the release of E.O. 14057, “Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability.”

On December 8, 2021, President Biden released Executive Order 14057 (EO), “Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability,” and the accompanying Federal Sustainability Plan, officially launching the first-ever national Buy Clean program. In his EO, President Biden outlined pathways for the federal government to use its scale and procurement power to help achieve net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050. Buy Clean policy is included in this strategy for the first time ever in federal procurement.