The Inflation Reduction Act

To start the last year of Vegan View off with a bang, President Joe Biden signed the largest federal climate bill in U.S. history Tuesday afternoon. The Inflation Reduction Act is a monumental investment in the future of our planet and will set a precedent for more to come. 

The bill is a compromise from what most Democrats and President Biden had initially wanted. Even still, Congress passed the bill with zero votes from Republican senators. Alongside lowering medical expenses and tax reform for large corporations, the bill will provide more than $350 billion in funding for climate-focused initiatives.

One goal of the Inflation Reduction Act is to increase renewable energy production, trusting that changing the supply and demand will lower costs. This can be seen in the various tax credits, an incentive that lets taxpayers subtract the credit from what they owe, included in the bill. These credits are received by producing energy from specific renewable resources (wind, biomass, geothermal, solar, hydropower, etc.), investment in certain energy properties (solar, fuel cells, waste energy recovery, etc.), and alternative fuel mixtures. Another tax credit will be awarded for qualifying zero-emission nuclear power and aviation fuel produced or sold after 2023, production of clean energy, investment in zero-emission energy generating facilities, and much more. You might even see your local mail carrier driving a zero-emission vehicle within the next couple of years. 

Increasing these pull factors will convince more companies, and people, to switch to sustainable energies. Hopefully, helping to make large strides in the global push away from fossil fuels.   

Funding for climate-conscious programs is another dilemma that the bill is set to address. These include the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) conservation and renewable energy programs, the National Forest Service’s forest restoration and wildfire prevention, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) projects for affordable housing and climate change issues, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) improvements for coastal and marine habitats and weather forecasting, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) incentives to reduce greenhouse gasses, the United States Fish and Wildlife Services’ (USFWS) recovery plans and conservation for endangered species, among others. 

Each of these programs is receiving this financial aid in order to make our planet healthier and reduce the persistent negative human impacts. Incentives are like little rewards for choosing better, more sustainable, energy options. Environmental scientists have had the solutions for years; this bill means that the government is finally starting to listen.