Hi John,

Just 40 days remain until President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris assume office on January 20, and it can’t come too soon: The United States is seeing record COVID-19 cases, and more than 947,000 workers filed new claims for state unemployment benefits the previous week. We urgently need to get the country stabilized and on the path to recovery.
 
Welcome to Friday! We’re sharing our new and timely survey on how clean energy businesses are faring during COVID-19; a new memo on how to right the wrongs of “urban renewal”; and our new podcast recording with Matthew Yglesias on The Weeds.  

Clean Energy Businesses Need Federal Assistance

Back in August, we surveyed clean energy businesses to determine how they were weathering the storm of the COVID-19 recession. The verdict: They were struggling. 
 
Our latest survey paints an equally grim picture, but it also takes stock of the recovery policies that these companies say would help them recover and start growing again.
 
Among the 157 clean energy businesses we surveyed:

• 74% have been negatively affected by the recession, and half expect lower revenue in Q4 2020 compared to Q4 2019 
• 44% said they would have to take actions that adversely affect workers if Congress fails to provide additional relief 
• 55% of respondents received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding, and at least 48% said they would apply if the program were reauthorized

The highest-priority policies for these businesses include extending existing tax credits, making public investments in infrastructure, and reauthorizing PPP. And majorities of the companies report having confidence that the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats will work to enact the kinds of support they need.

READ: Clean Energy Businesses Need Federal Assistance NOW

Urban Renewal

“Urban renewal” projects overlooked communities of color, left them out of the decision making process, and polluted their neighborhoods. The construction of highways in the 1950s and 1960s displaced more than a million Americans, disproportionately affecting communities of color, deprived them of wealth, opportunity, and access to thriving downtown areas while dumping pollution from cars and trucks into their neighborhoods.
 
With Transportation for America, we recommended a slate of policies that can begin to right these historical wrongs. By redesigning or deconstructing harmful infrastructure and ensuring the people who already live in these areas benefit from new development, we can help these communities rebuild the wealth these highway projects destroyed—and reduce carbon pollution along the way. 
 
Let’s build back smarter and fix what's outdated—all while making highway decisions more inclusive. 
 
READ: Community Replenishment: Undoing the Damage of Urban Renewal
 
And while you decompress from the week, tune into the new Vox podcast, hosted by Matthew Yglesias, featuring Josh Freed, Senior Vice President of Third Way’s Climate and Energy Program, and Jackie Kempfer, Senior Policy Advisor. Josh and Jackie discuss the difference between existing and advanced nuclear energy and the critical role these technologies can play in decarbonizing the US power sector, as well as what climate policy could look like in a divided government; the impact of the appropriations process on climate; and the economic needs and opportunities open to fossil fuel communities.
 
LISTEN: The Next Four Years: An optimistic climate agenda