2012’s biggest climate change bill is pushing the energy bill

The world needs bold climate action this year and we got it.

California and other states have announced plans to ban gas-powered cars after 2035. The United States will ratify an international treaty to curb the production of hydrofluorocarbons in refrigeration and climate warming. The European Union has finalized its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent relative to 1990 levels by 2030. A list of legislative victories follows.

But the biggest win came in August, when President Joe Biden signed the tax cut into law.

The historic legislation marks the first major move by the United States, which emits more carbon dioxide than any other country, to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The globe is rolling in $369 billion in adoption by accelerating the adoption of wind, solar and other renewable energy sources and decarbonizing the economy. By the end of the decade, the act will help to cut US greenhouse gas emissions to about 40 percent of levels in 2005, while US emissions will nearly double, scientists say, bringing the nation within range of fulfilling its commitment to halving emissions by 2030.

Legislation is not a panacea for the climate crisis, but researchers and activists are the best hands to help clean energy flourish. “There is really nothing to mitigate the climate crisis without the investment in this bill,” said Raul Garcia, legislative director at Earth Justice, a non-profit environmental law organization.

Here is a look at some of the provisions of the new law and some of its limitations.

Cheaper world energy

The law aims to ease and encourage the transition away from fossil fuels by creating tax credits that reduce the cost for companies to use clean energy. For example, small businesses can qualify for maintenance credits of up to 30 percent of the cost of switching to solar power.

The act also aims to help consumers, with $9 billion in rebates that help people ditch gas and buy electrical appliances, such as induction electric cooktops and heat pump water heaters. Families can also get up to $7,500 in tax credits for electric vehicle purchases.

“It’s huge,” Denise Mauzerall, an atmospheric scientist at Princeton University, says of the law’s potential to promote clean energy. But if the United States is to harness increased clean energy capacity, it will also be crucial to build sufficient infrastructure to deliver that energy, he notes. The bill only provides some support for building overhead power lines and other ways to transmit energy. “Without transmission,” he said, “we will be really slow.”

Clean energy jobs and goods

The major goal is to build a clean energy economy by promoting high-quality solar and wind energy. To increase the tax credits, companies must “prevail wages” for workers and employ students to work a minimum number of hours in clean energy projects.

It also invests in domestic production of clean energy goods. Tax credits of up to 30 percent are available to companies that build or recycle wind turbine blades, solar panels, energy equipment and other renewable energy, and the money gives factories to retool electric vehicles.

reducing pollution

Methane – a greenhouse gas that can take more than 25 times as much heat as CO₂ – There is another sign. The legislation dedicates $850 million to monitoring and mitigating fossil fuel emissions from fossil fuel operations. It also clearly establishes operations that annually produce methane emissions of 25,000 metric tons of CO. they exceed₂ equivalent

and CO₂ It is legally defined as an “air pollutant,” imposing protections for the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate its production under the Clean Air Act.

But there’s more to the climate problem than today’s polluting, carbonizing industry, Mauzerall says. “We are making progress, we must work to reduce emissions from the agricultural sector,” he said. About 11 percent of US greenhouse gas emissions and about a third of global emissions come from agriculture (SN: 5/7/22 & 5/21/22, p. 22).

Climate justice

Billions of dollars have been pledged to reach climate justice, a movement that addresses the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalized communities. The fund includes $2.8 billion in grants for community-based projects, such as those that increase energy in affordable housing developments or monitor air quality in marginalized communities.

“But there are some supplies,” Garcia said. The new law adds offshore oil and gas and provides fossil fuel companies with carbon receipts and sequestration tax credits. These could extend the life of polluting oil and gas operations, which are often located in isolated communities.

It will be important to follow up these investments with laws that would enforce climate justice and the world’s energy transition, Garcia says. “We need rules and regulations that have the industry’s feet to the fire to make sure those investments go where they need to.”