In a dramatic turn of events, on 7 August, the U.S. Senate narrowly passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a USD 370 billion bill that has the potential to move the country away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. “It required many compromises. Doing important things almost always does,” comments President Biden in his official statement. “The House should pass this as soon as possible and I look forward to signing it into law,” he adds.
The Inflation Reduction Act is, admittedly, less ambitious than the USD 2.2 trillion Build Back Better Act initially envisioned by President Biden. Nevertheless, this hard-fought political victory for the president constitutes the most significant federal investment in history to counter climate change. Once enacted, the new law is projected to help cut the nation’s greenhouse pollution by roughly 40 per cent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade.
