Historic Climate Progress

 Issue Briefing 

New policies in the U.S. are already creating climate progress.

Clear Message: The Inflation Reduction Act is catalyzing climate progress across America, but over half of climate-concerned Americans don’t know anything about it.

In America, good things are happening to combat climate change—but the laws behind them are under threat.

Climate progress is finally happening in America, largely thanks to a landmark climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which is the most ambitious in U.S. history. The IRA alone is projected to reduce emissions by 40% below the 2005 baseline. Two other federal laws, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the CHIPS and Science Act, are also supporting decarbonization efforts. Plus, a slew of federal regulations are reducing emissions across economic sectors and speeding up permitting for electric transmission and clean energy.

These laws aren’t just an abstraction. Recent news tells an encouraging story: these policies are actually working as intended in our regions, states, and cities. New clean energy and conservation projects are being announced regularly across the country, low-income households are seeing energy savings, domestic manufacturing in the clean energy and transportation space is booming, and over 300,000 jobs (of the 1.3 million predicted) have already been created.

Enter Project 2025, which opposes the Inflation Reduction Act and Biden-era regulations.

Opponents of the IRA and climate progress are loud and vocal. An initiative called Project 2025, backed by a right-wing think tank, the Heritage Foundation, is actively encouraging repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act and other climate policies.

If Americans are indifferent to the IRA because they don’t know all that it’s accomplishing, Project 2025 just might be successful.

People don’t defend things they don’t know about.

The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCC) published polling that shows most Americans (53-65%) do not know what’s in the IRA and aren’t aware that it’s yielded tangible progress on climate, even those who self-identify as climate-concerned. Even pro-climate folks aren’t getting the message about what has been achieved so far. And if people are not familiar with something, they won’t defend it.

The good news: According to that YPCC data, people who read just a short description of the IRA were instantly in support of it. As climate advocates, we want as many Americans as possible to have a favorable view of the IRA so we can continue making climate progress and prevent anti-climate advocacy initiatives like Project 2025 from wielding influence over our government.

To protect the IRA, we must boost its recognition and favorability, which means talking about it effectively to the media and the public.

Yale polling shows only 32% of adults hear about global warming in the media and 64% rarely or never discuss it with their peers. Spreading the word about historic U.S. climate progress is one of the best uses of our time.

Journalists, friends and family, and social networks are often more interested and invested in things with local impact. This means that local stories are typically the most effective method for talking about climate progress and amplifying the benefits of the IRA specifically, rather than sharing big national dollar amounts or wonky emissions reduction stats. 

Recent clean energy success stories linked to the IRA:

These local IRA stories are useful when amplifying the IRA to audiences in specific regions.

Click for more IRA stories in each U.S. region

For even more stories of U.S. climate progress: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (formally called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA for short) of 2021 made historic decarbonization investments, too. Check out this great investment tracker from the National League of Cities.

STOP! You now know enough about recent U.S. climate progress to take meaningful action.

Want more facts? Cool, keep scrolling!

Big Benefits of the IRA

Local Stories + Sticky Stats

In addition to everyone, who is especially benefiting from the IRA?

  • Five states, Michigan, Georgia, Texas, California, and South Carolina, bear the bulk of new proposed projects, but there are proposed clean energy projects in 48 states.

  • Low-income communities: The IRA is bringing $98 billion in investment and over 106,000 jobs across 229 new clean energy projects in low-income communities in 34 states.

  • Rural America: 92 new clean energy projects have been announced in rural communities in 31 states, bringing $45 billion in investment and over 43,000 jobs with them.

Infographics source: Climate Power

1. Large-scale decarbonization ☁️

Elevator Pitch

The IRA is projected to reduce U.S. emissions by 40% below baseline by 2030—it’s the only policy that makes it possible to meet our Paris Agreement commitments (and even then, we have a ways to go).

Local Story

An Indian solar panel company is investing $1 billion into a new factory near Houston and expects to manufacture enough panels for 3GW of solar generation per year.

Memorable Fact

The IRA could double the pace of U.S. annual emissions reductions to 4% per year.

Notable Provisions

  • Clean electricity and clean vehicle tax credits

  • Clean energy technology accelerator

  • Methane pollution fee

  • Federal loan guarantees

For more IRA provisions, click here.

2. Widespread energy affordability 💰

Elevator Pitch

The IRA makes electrification accessible to millions of low- and moderate-income Americans by offering generous rebates and tax credits for home retrofits and EVs.

Local Story

After Missouri was awarded $156M in federal funding, Kansas City says it expects to solarize 2,000 low-income homes annually in the next few years.

Memorable Fact

U.S. households could see a 10% average decrease in energy bills, across every region of the country.

Notable Provisions

  • Home electrification tax credits and rebates

  • Tax credits for new & used EVs

  • Energy-efficient affordable housing

For more IRA provisions, click here.

3. Manufacturing & national security 🇺🇸

Elevator Pitch

The IRA reinvigorates American manufacturing by requiring or incentivizing American-made component parts in the clean energy transition—reducing our dependence on foreign competitors.

Local Story

Hyundai is turning Georgia into an EV manufacturing hub by opening two multibillion-dollar plants to manufacture Hyundai and Kia EVs.

Memorable Fact

In just one year, the IRA doubled the amount of U.S. manufacturing construction and nearly tripled domestic battery manufacturing.

Notable Provisions

  • Tax credits for manufacturing EVs, solar panels, batteries, turbines, and more.

  • Incentives for onshore critical minerals processing.

  • Grants to retool car factories for EVs to prevent factory shutdowns

For more IRA provisions, click here.

4. Job creation & workforce development 💼

Elevator Pitch

Investment spurred by the IRA has proven to be a major job creator, and the law is mobilizing the next generation of workers in clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience by providing high-quality skills training.

Local Story

New large Siemens power transformers in Mecklenburg County, NC are creating 500 new jobs, of 9,000 that the IRA has already catalyzed in North Carolina.

Infographics source: Climate Power

Memorable Fact

In its first year, the IRA catalyzed the creation of more than 300,000 new jobs, and that number is projected to reach 1.3 million by 2030.

Notable Provisions

  • Tax credits, low-interest financing, and loan guarantees that help de-risk new construction and create jobs

  • Tax credits for employers who pay prevailing wages to their new clean energy workforce

For more IRA provisions, click here.

5. Environmental justice ⚖️

Elevator Pitch

The IRA is the most significant environmental justice law in U.S. history, with most programs delivering 40% of their benefits to historically underserved and low-income communities.

Local Story

The IRA’s Neighborhood Access and Equity Grants are helping to reconnect West Montgomery, AL to the rest of the city by building new walking and biking paths after decades of segregation due to redlining.

Memorable Fact

The IRA’s Solar for All program is expected to deliver affordable solar energy to over 900,000 low-income and disadvantaged households.

Notable Provisions

  • Environmental Justice Block Grants for community-led projects

  • Grants to reduce air pollution at ports

  • Grants for safe, equitable, clean public transportation

For more IRA provisions, click here.

6. Conservation & sustainable agriculture 🚜

Elevator Pitch

The IRA makes historic investments in climate-smart agriculture, coastal conservation and restoration, and fire-resilient forests.

Local Story

Glacier National Park received $2M to continue its bison reintroduction program, to inventory cultural resources impacted by climate change, and to protect and restore whitebark pine.

Memorable Fact

Farmers and ranchers will have access to $20 billion in conservation assistance, making it easier to increase carbon sequestration and reduce emissions from agriculture.

Notable Provisions

  • Funding for the Conservation Stewardship Program

  • Incentives promoting environmental quality

  • Technical assistance for farmers

For more IRA provisions, click here.

Wonky details ahead!

Wonky details ahead!

(you can handle it)

IRA’s Projected Impact

A report from Energy Innovation estimates the following climate and economic impact from passing the Inflation Reduction Act:

  • The IRA’s climate provisions would result in U.S. emissions falling 37%–41% below 2005 levels in 2030. (In the business-as-usual scenario without the IRA, 2030 emissions are 24% below 2005 levels).

  • That means that in 2030, the IRA would cover two-thirds of the emissions gap between business-as-usual and the U.S. targets under the Paris Agreement, making it realistically possible for executive, state and local actions to bridge the remainder.

  • These reductions account for emissions increases from the new oil and gas supply provisions, which are unlikely to add more than 50 MMT of emissions in 2030. In other words, for every ton of emissions caused by the new oil and supply provisions, at least 24 tons of emissions reductions are achieved from other provisions in the IRA.

  • The IRA would add 1.4–1.5 million new jobs in 2030 and increase GDP by 0.8%–0.9% in 2030. The generous incentives to onshore manufacturing of clean energy technologies are key to this result.

  • It would also bring significant health benefits, avoiding 3,700–3,900 premature deaths per year in 2030, with reductions concentrated in communities of color. Avoided air pollution would also prevent up to 100,000 asthma attacks and up to 417,000 lost workdays in 2030.

Additional modeling from Princeton’s REPEAT Project available here.

Projected GHG emissions reduction visualized

Further Reading:

IRA Impact and Stories

Climate Changemakers community collection of recent IRA stories

Report: The State of the Clean Energy Boom

Tracking Clean Energy Projects Across the U.S.

State research by Climate Power

Article: The Biden Administration is taking more climate action than any other in history

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