Put Cities at the Heart of Americas Infrastructure and Economic Recovery

This statement from RMI, authored by mayors, argues that the United States' economic and infrastructure recovery should be centered on local governments to effectively address climate change, racial injustice, and the impacts of COVID-19.

• The authors argue that placing local governments at the center of the national recovery is the most effective way to achieve climate and economic goals, suggesting that President Biden's proposed $2 trillion infrastructure plan should serve as the catalyst for this approach.
• Current federal transportation funding is heavily skewed toward roads and interstates, with 80 percent of FAST Act funding allocated to them, while public transit receives 17 percent and walking/biking projects receive 2 percent. The authors claim that every $1 invested in public transportation generates $4 of additional economic activity and creates 70 percent more jobs than spending on new or expanded roads.
• Cities are implementing local climate and energy initiatives despite federal and state barriers. Examples include Cincinnati's construction of the largest municipal solar farm in the country and Denver's 0.25 percent sales tax to raise up to $40 million annually for renewable energy and resiliency, with at least 50 percent of funds targeting at-risk low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
• The authors call for the federal government to remove regulatory barriers that hinder clean energy, specifically by scrapping rules that disadvantage clean energy, requiring monopoly utilities to use all-source procurement, and providing regulatory certainty for transmission investments.
• Denver's 'From Forests to Faucets' program demonstrates the value of green infrastructure partnerships; following $27 million in repairs from two wildfires, Denver Water partnered with the U.S. Forest Service, the Colorado State Forest Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to protect over 140,000 acres of watershed and forestland.

APA

RMI (2021). Put Cities at the Heart of Americas Infrastructure and Economic Recovery. https://rmi.org/resources/put-cities-at-the-heart-of-americas-infrastructure-and-economic-recovery/

Chicago

RMI. Put Cities at the Heart of Americas Infrastructure and Economic Recovery. 2021. https://rmi.org/resources/put-cities-at-the-heart-of-americas-infrastructure-and-economic-recovery/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=RMI |title=Put Cities at the Heart of Americas Infrastructure and Economic Recovery |date=26 April 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/put-cities-at-the-heart-of-americas-infrastructure-and-economic-recovery/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{rmi2021put, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Put Cities at the Heart of Americas Infrastructure and Economic Recovery}}, publisher = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/put-cities-at-the-heart-of-americas-infrastructure-and-economic-recovery/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }