Episode description

This week, two expert guests, Professor Jeffrey Sachs and Yonah Freemark, join the show to talk about the American Jobs Plan and how we can better decarbonize our economy with smart infrastructure spending. Professor Sachs explains how to best aim spending plans to create sustainable jobs, build up a green economy, and reduce inequality in the process. Freemark tells us why transportation emissions keep increasing, how to get fewer cars on the road, and the importance of federal and local coordination on transportation plans. 

About Our Guests:  Jeffrey Sachs is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, the President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development, and an SDG Advocate for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. He is the author of several books including The End of Poverty, The Age of Sustainable Development, and The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions. He hosts the new podcast Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs.

Yonah Freemark is a senior research associate in the Urban Institute’s Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center, where he researches the intersection of land use, affordable housing, and transportation. You can read his recent Op-Ed "How to ensure Biden's climate-focused transportation plans turn out sustainable and equitable" in The Hill. You can follow his work at Urban.org or his blog The Transport Politic.

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