On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a massive bill that represents the biggest investment in climate action in U.S. history. It puts nearly $400 billion toward promoting domestic production of clean energy technology and generally retrofitting America to survive climate change. If all goes to plan, the act would slash US emissions by 40 percent by the year 2030.
In the immortal words of Uncle Sam, the bill screams: “I Want You”... to fight a war against climate change. The bill is packed with tax credits and rebates for Americans to buy electric vehicles (EVs), install heat pumps and better insulation and slap solar panels on their roofs. We’re talking thousands upon thousands of dollars per household. In turn, all that extra investment in green technologies should juice the market, further accelerating the transition to a cleaner economy.
“It’s basically just a big green light for everyone—for the consumer, for the companies making these products, for building owners, for utilities, everybody—to start doing this stuff,” says Ben Evans, federal legislative director of the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit that promotes sustainability. “And we think that’s really going to change these markets. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to call this historic.”
Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.