Nearly 2 Years In… Is the Inflation Reduction Act Delivering Yet?

In August 2022, Congress passed the biggest piece of climate legislation in our nation’s history: the Inflation Reduction Act, which put $400 billion into boosting the transition to a clean energy economy over the next 10 years. The IRA has spurred companies to announce nearly $110 billion of investment in new factories to build EVs, batteries and renewable energy facilities. That’s driving investments, reshoring of manufacturing, and real change.

This week we check in on the impact of the IRA in the last 18 months. What impact has the IRA really had on US emissions so far? Has the IRA distributed money to fulfill its climate justice initiatives?

Trevor Houser

Partner, Rhodium Group

Danny Kennedy

CEO, New Energy Nexus

Ozawa Bineshi Albert

Former Co-Executive Director, Climate Justice Alliance

Monday April 22 - Friday April 26

Climate One will be celebrating SF Climate Week with a series of programs featuring California and the San Francisco Bay Area’s leading voices in policy, climate justice and business. The week will showcase interviews with California Attorney General Rob Bonta, State Senators Nancy Skinner and Scott Wiener, California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph, and California Environmental Justice Association’s Energy Justice Director Mari Rose Taruc, among others, about the challenges and opportunities facing the nation’s innovation capital when it comes to addressing climate change. We’re pleased to share that California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot, SF Environment Director Tyrone Jue and Stanford Law School Lecturer Alicia Seiger have been added to the program as well!

On Tuesday, Climate One will also be hosting an Action Lounge, where attendees will be able to join local climate and environmental organizations, apply for green jobs, and receive guidance from climate career coaches. Participating organizations include Climate Changemakers, Dream.org, Cleantech Open, Green Jobs Network, and more.

The week will wrap up on Friday with a sustainable fashion show featuring local emerging designers, along with music performances and cocktails on our rooftop garden with breathtaking views of the Bay Bridge. 

When millions of people across the United States craned their necks to take in the solar eclipse this week, the atmospheric beauty overshadowed the dirty power firing up behind the scenes. Despite the path of totality covering only a portion of the nation, solar power output was impacted in all 50 states, with the temporary reduction in solar energy forcing state utility grids to turn to alternative sources.

And while power generation managers had plenty of time to prepare for the eclipse, the short-term nature of the disruption to the grid forced many areas to rely on rapid reaction power plants, also known as peakers. Typically powered by gas or oil, peakers cover shortfall when a grid is near capacity or if an unforeseen disaster has limited other power generation. Their flexibility and quick reaction time can prevent black- and brown-outs, but their reliance on fossil fuels and locations near population centers mean that peakers are responsible for an outsized amount of emissions and health concerns.

But there are bright spots too. The fact that an interruption to solar power poses even a temporary problem for the grid is a sign of the rapid adoption of the technology, with even oil-rich Texas embracing solar panels. And the public and private sectors are both optimistic about the potential for improved battery storage capabilities to mitigate the need for peakers in the future, whether during a heat wave or natural disaster. 

PLUS:

The EPA strengthened the pollution standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, aiming to increase the share of those that are non-polluting from 2% today to 25% and 40% respectively by 2032. With an estimated 72 million people living near freight truck routes, an improvement would benefit both the climate and the health care system.

Truck engines are orders of magnitude larger than those in passenger vehicles, making the technological challenges behind the transition larger as well. But many in the trucking industry are optimistic, such as Ray Minjares of the International Council on Clean Transportation and Chris Shimoda of the California Trucking Association. They joined Climate One to share their insights into the future of zero emissions trucking, and their full conversation is available on all major podcast platforms.

Source: Politico

Have you ever found yourself wishing you could be in community with your fellow Climate One fans? Well thanks to our new Discord server, now you can!

By joining our Patreon for just $5/month, you receive access to our new virtual Climate One community, where we talk about recent episodes, our favorite books and movies, and what’s giving us hope for the future. Join us today!