On Tuesday , Bernie Sanders ( I - Vt . ) unveiled the most comprehensive note yet to help Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands recover from Hurricane Maria . Far more challenging than the scattershot federal efforts to - date , the bill asks for $ 146 billion to modernise the islands ’ vim , medical and housing substructure , provide debt relief and fund environmental cleanup .
Senator Kristen Gillibrand ( D - N.Y. ) , one of the bill ’s Centennial State - patron , dubbed it a “ new Marshall Plan ” after the plan put in place to aid Europe recover after World War II . The question is , would it play ? Can this bill aid the two islands cope with an gauge $ 94 billion in damages and one thousand million more in debt construct back so that they ’re more resilient to future storms ?
According to experts who utter with Earther , the answer is yes — in full term of its telescope and the political will on the island . But Republicans control of all branches of the Union government , making overstep the measure a extortionate mound to climb .
“ I do call back the Marshall Plan doctrine of analogy is reasonable , ” Cathy Kunkel , an energy psychoanalyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis who has researched Puerto Rico ’s power grid extensively , told Earther . “ The bill is proposing a major influx of federal finances into territories whose substructure has mostly been scourge , with the expectation that this Union backing will spur further secret investment funds . And $ 146 billion in Union investment would sure enough leverage large amount of secret capital . ”
More than two month after Hurricane Maria tore through Puerto Rico and theU.S. Virgin Islands , jillion are without power , schools remained closed , and thedeath toll keep to climb on . There ’s also an intense brain drain asPuerto Ricans give up the islandfor the mainland . The economic impacts could be felt for years to come .
So far , Union help for the islands has been step-by-step and marred by contracts awarded to outside companies under unelaborated circumstances that have n’t pan out out . Tiny Whitefish Energy received ashady $ 300 millioncontract to restore office to some of Puerto Rico . More recently , a Florida firm with no experiencefailed to deliveron a $ 30 million contract to deliver tarps to the island .
Donald Trump signed a moderation poster with $ 4.9 billion in loans to Puerto Rico , and asked Congress to pass a $ 44 billion aid petition . That aid would be disbursed across all surface area that were hammer by hurricanes this twelvemonth across the Caribbean and Gulf Coast , though .
“ This petition does not come tight to what local officials say is want , ” Rep. Nita Lowey ( D - N.Y.),told the APwhen the proposal , which was also stigmatise by Texas ’ Republican regulator , was float two hebdomad ago .
In contrast to these slipshod crusade , the Sanders billhook take a wholesale approach to recovery . For Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands , a vast portion of get the island ready for the next violent storm isremaking their power gridsto be resilient . There are a number of way to do that , from decentralizing power multiplication to shorten reliance on expensive fossil fuel import .
To that end , the bill set up aside nearly $ 500 million for grants to district and local governing , as well as homeowners to install renewable energy capacity and improve energy efficiency . The latter is a nod to the bill ’s bigger ambitions to improve the day-to-day life of Puerto Ricans by reducing vigour costs and ensuring grid reliability even in the absence of a major storm .
The bill also limits privatization in an effort to stave off any runs at Puerto Rico ’s public substructure by mainland corporations ( coughing , coughWhitefish Energy ) .
“ This bill is about seek to rebuild Puerto Rico differently and the community involvement and local ascendance by Puerto Rican communities using Puerto Rican hired man , ” Luis Ponce Ruiz , one of the founders of Boricuas Unidos en la Diaspora ( BUDPR ) , say Earther . “ That ’s indispensable to us . ”
BUDPR isone of 75 organizationsto support the banker’s bill , a list which let in expectant environmental groups like Greenpeace and 350 , Latino groups like the Hispanic Federation and Green Latinos , and local Puerto Rican alleviation organizations . San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz , an outspoken criticism of President Trump ’s response so far , has also voiced support for the greenback .
Ponce Ruiz verbalise to Earther from Puerto Rico where he was visiting mob and meeting with local groups to drum up more support for the broadside .
The bill also hold $ 13 billion for reconstruction through the Federal Emergency Management Agency . But there , it make a novel request .
Currently , FEMA can only build back what was once there . The Sanders invoice changes that , boom the employment of finances to include power grid melioration . In the case of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands , that ’s a huge deal . The vim systems that were there ran on high-priced oil colour imports , and rely on rickety grids that entirely failed during the tempest .
Building it back the same fashion is n’t rational , specially knowing the prospect of clime change - fueled storms mean more end is likely . Renewables wo n’t necessarily halt the wipeout , but they can aid the island become muchmore springy to storms . The money saved from not importing expensive fuel is another big plus . And of course , the public is going to have to bring carbon befoulment to zero to avoid ever - decline clime shocks .
https://gizmodo.com/puerto-rico-has-a-once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity-to-ret-1819143446
“ What we know about climate change , it ’s very likely that what they reconstruct today will come whirl down during the next violent storm , ” Judith Enck , the former administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency part that over saw the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico , evidence Earther . “ I reckon Congress needs to pass legislation — and Bernie Sanders ’ banker’s bill does this — guide FEMA to basically change the electrical grid in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico and fund thing like solar microgrids , lead , vigor efficiency , and decentralize vim .
“ I strongly support the Sanders billhook and think it would go a foresightful way of life to meliorate quality spirit of zillion of Americans , ” she tot up .
There ’s nothing as comprehensive as Sanders ’ proposal on the Republican side , though Senator John McCain ( R - Ariz. ) has also preface a bill that would repeal the Jones Act , a law that charge a fleshy duty on any items bring to Puerto Rico aboard strange ships . That ’s repulse up prices in Puerto Rico and slowed retrieval .
“ McCain ’s bill on repealing the Jones Act is a step in the right commission from the Republican camp , ” Ponce Ruiz enounce .
What is sure is that something has to bechance soon , before more Americans suffer .
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