Biden fights for political gain a year after ambitious climate law
Joe Biden is struggling to sell Americans on the benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act. The hugely ambitious project is aimed at speeding America's transition to clean energy, rebuilding its industrial might and increasing social justice.
On August 16, 2022, when the US president signed the $750 billion plan into law, the country was in the midst of a dramatic surge in prices that was battering the Democratic leader's popularity. So «the Inflation Reduction Act» seemed a logical name, even though the plan aimed largely — through some $350 billion in subsidies and tax credits — at speeding the transition to green energy.
«I wish I hadn't called it that, because it has less to do with inflation than it has to do with providing alternatives that generate economic growth,» Biden said at a recent meeting with donors in the western state of Utah. The previous day, the 80-year-old Democrat, who is seeking a second term in office next year, had inaugurated a sustainable energy project that he said symbolizes the best of the IRA.
That project, in nearby New Mexico, involves the construction of electricity-generating wind turbines on the site where a factory once made plastic dishes — in a state suffering the harsh effects of climate change in the form of wildfires and extreme temperatures.Private investment The White House says the IRA has spurred $110 billion in private investments in the clean energy sector since it became law — raising concern among Europeans and other allies with its stated ambition of industrial independence. «This is the most significant climate and clean energy legislation in US history,» said Lori Bird of the World Resources Institute, an environmental group.
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