Topline
Billionaire Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates on Thursday pledged $1.5 billion for joint projects with the federal government to help fight climate change as part of proposed initiatives in the Senate’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, but suggested his funds could go to other countries if the bill, which still faces a very uncertain fate in Congress, doesn’t end up getting passed.
Bill Gates makes a speech in London.
Key Facts
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Gates said his climate-focused nonprofit investment firm, Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, could use the investment to fund projects aimed at lowering greenhouse-gas emissions over a period of three years.
The 65-year-old philanthropist said the infrastructure bill’s $25 billion provision for climate-focused demonstration projects, which are small-scale projects used to “demonstrate” a technology's impact, are key to develop new technologies, test a project's viability and eventually drive down the market price of clean energy.
Gates said he would be “super disappointed” if the bill doesn’t pass and warned large demonstration projects could then gain traction in Europe and Asia, which means the U.S. could lose out on an “early lead” in the industry.
In addition to the $25 billion for demonstration projects, the infrastructure deal would authorize about $73 billion to expand the power transmission grid to better carry renewable energy and $21 billion to help clean up old industrial and energy sites.
Crucial Quote
“Critical for all these climate technologies is to get the costs down and to be able to scale them up to a pretty gigantic level,” Gates said Thursday. “You’ll never get that scale up unless the government’s coming in with the right policies, and the right policy is exactly what’s in that infrastructure bill.”
Key Background
Though the infrastructure bill passed in the Senate this week with broad bipartisan support, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has repeatedly pledged she won't hold a vote for the bill in the House unless the Senate also advances a highly divisive $3.5 trillion budget package replete with many of the party’s policy priorities. Senators made progress on that front before heading out for vacation this week, but moderate Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have said they won’t support a bill with such a hefty price tag, making its approval prospects highly uncertain given the chamber’s 50-50 party split.
Tangent
This month, Gates briefly ceded his position as the world’s fourth-richest person after a $2.4 billion stock transfer to ex-wife Melinda French Gates. The pair finalized their divorce last week and are still dividing up their assets. As of Thursday morning, Melinda is worth an estimated $5.8 billion, while Bill is still worth a staggering $130 billion.
Further Reading
