The Inflation Reduction Act, the most ambitious climate law in U.S. history, could soon be rolled back by Congress – despite generating over 400,000 new clean energy jobs.
In a new video conversation, environmental scientist Dana Nuccitelli, a research coordinator for the nonprofit Citizens’ Climate Lobby and Yale Climate Connections contributor, joins features editor Pearl Marvell of Yale Climate Connections to explain what’s at stake.
Passed by Democrats in 2022, the IRA invests hundreds of billions of dollars over 10 years in clean energy, from electric vehicle tax credits to new solar panel factories. But now Republican Senators are considering a bill – already passed by the House – that would slash those investments to help fund their top priority: extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts.
Nuccitelli explains that repealing key parts of the IRA would eliminate hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy incentives. Ironically, the lion’s share of these benefits has gone to Republican-leaning districts, where land for clean energy development is most available.
Without the IRA’s support, communities that have seen new factories, battery storage sites, and solar farms could instead face layoffs, stalled projects, and rising power bills.
So why would lawmakers target a policy that’s creating jobs and boosting rural economies?
Nuccitelli says it’s less about favoring fossil fuel interests and more about a budget trade-off: Republican lawmakers are prioritizing extending the tax cuts and minimizing the federal deficit. Repealing the IRA’s tax credits – worth about $560 billion – is one way to help pay for that.
The result? Congress could undercut America’s clean energy boom just as it begins to take off.
Watch the full discussion to better understand how this policy fight could affect your wallet, the economy, and the country’s energy future.
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