The last few years have been an exciting and productive time for sustainable and renewable energy, ushering in motivation and incentive from both individuals and major projects to turn to green options when making major decisions.

One of the most productive and impactful actions taken in the past few years is the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. The IRA incorporates a medley of grants, loans, tax provisions and other incentives to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, clean vehicles, clean buildings and clean manufacturing. 

This includes investments in deploying clean energy, boosting the electricity grid, expanding domestic clean technology manufacturing, incentivizing uptake of electric vehicles, reducing methane emissions, increasing the efficiency of buildings, improving the climate resilience of communities, and other areas. 

In total, around $370 billion will be spent on measures dedicated to improving energy security and accelerating clean energy transitions. The specific programs fall under numerous provisions covered by distinct entries in the database.

Overall, that’s a sweet deal.

It all comes down to the carrot and stick when we discuss this sort of progress. Green, clean energy has been present for a very long time, but the reluctance to embrace it is obvious in many cases. With climate issues and environmental injustice as serious as they are, the country needed a solution that would heavily incentivize people to act. So, it made the carrot bigger and sweeter. 

So, the IRA is in place, now what? Well, it’s already made significant impacts on the route major organizations, construction projects and leaders all around the country take when developing new projects. The combination of grants, loans, tax provisions and more are very tempting motivations for change to happen. 

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, the country is on track to drive down carbon pollution 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 (https://bit.ly/48JtR7X). If states maximize these investments, the legislation has the potential to return the United States to a leadership role in the global fight against climate change.

Beyond the numbers and percentages, the IRA can make a real difference in combatting the issues of climate change and environmental injustice; issues of people struggling with living in a place with unclean air, being unable to afford to pay for heating and cooling, and so on. 

Nine Million Good-Paying Jobs 

Another major benefit to the IRA is surrounding labor demand. The law is creating an abundance of jobs for tradesmen and industry workers as it grows and requires more hands for the large number of new projects being put into motion. 

The Bluegreen Alliance commissioned a new analysis from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; it found that the more than 100 climate, energy and environmental investments in the IRA will create more than nine million good-paying jobs over the next decade — an average of nearly one million jobs each year (https://bit.ly/3YK6Z3x). 

That includes more than six million jobs created over the next 10 years by grants, loans and tax credits, and nearly three million jobs stimulated by new loan guarantee authority for the U.S. Department of Energy. 

Nine million U.S. jobs opening over the next decade is a feat so monumental that it can’t be ignored. It positively impacts the unemployment struggles in our country, and it encourages more people to enter trade fields. 

With robust application of the legislation’s strong labor standards, many of these jobs in expanding sectors such as clean energy, clean manufacturing and efficient buildings will offer workers good wages and benefits. 

Many believe that to advance economic and racial justice, registered apprenticeship programs, targeted investments and equitable hiring practices should be used to prioritize job access for low-income workers, workers of color and workers in environmental justice, deindustrialized and energy transition communities.

The way to the future lies in the process of motivating people on a large scale to make a difference. Sometimes it takes a carrot and a stick to get the job done, and that’s worth exploring.

I hope the IRA continues to inspire action, make a difference in cleaning up our planet, create jobs, impact communities in need, make space for open communication regarding clean energy topics, and so much more. I’ve seen it happen already, I’ve celebrated and become involved in some of these projects, and I cannot wait to see what comes of it over the next decade alone. 

We are on the right path; we just need to keep chasing that carrot.