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This piece is part of a series. Read more.
Editor’s note, August 16: This story was originally published on August 12, 2022. It has been updated to note President Biden’s signing of the bill.
The most important climate legislation in U.S. history, the Inflation Reduction Act, was signed into law by President Biden on August 16, after passing the Senate and House the week prior. Every Democrat in Congress voted for the bill; no Republicans did.
The act dedicates $369 billion over 10 years to promote clean energy, pollution reduction and environmental justice. It contains a vast and dizzying array of tax incentives for wind and solar energy, batteries, nuclear power, clean hydrogen production, electric vehicles, heat pumps and much more.
Canary Media has been exploring and explaining many of the act’s critical provisions:
And that’s just for starters. To find out more, read our first big story about the legislation following its sudden introduction in late July, which summarizes its climate and energy provisions. Or listen to discussion of the law on our podcasts: The Carbon Copy, Political Climate and Catalyst with Shayle Kann.
We’ll continue to report over the coming days, weeks and beyond on the many components of the act and how they’re being implemented. Keep tabs on our Inflation Reduction Act page. If there are stories you want to see, tell us on Twitter or LinkedIn, or chime in with comments below.
This act is huge, and the fact that it actually got through Congress and to Biden’s desk is even huger. But you don’t have to take our word for it. Here’s testimony from some of the members of Congress who were thrilled to be able to help pass the historic legislation, which contains a number of meaningful health-care and tax provisions in addition to climate and energy ones.
This is HUGE. The Inflation Reduction Act includes $300 billion to fight climate change, the largest federal clean energy investment in U.S. history.
— Rep. Sean Casten (@RepCasten) August 9, 2022
Let’s get this bill to the President’s desk. https://t.co/QID9IiBQFx
The Inflation Reduction Act will:
— Rep. Val Demings (@RepValDemings) August 6, 2022
- reduce costs of prescription drugs
- make health insurance more affordable
- cap out of pocket costs
- reduce your energy bill
- fight climate change
- bring down inflation
- reduce the federal deficit
This is huge for working families.
This is huge. This monumental legislation tackles the challenges families are facing today and makes game changing investments to build a much stronger future for our kids. #InflationReductionAct
— Martin Heinrich (@MartinHeinrich) August 7, 2022
It’s official: Congress has passed the Inflation Reduction Act! This is a huge victory for the American people: bringing down health care and energy costs, tackling the climate crisis, and cracking down on wealthy tax cheats and freeloading corporations. Woo-hoo!
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 12, 2022
Here's just some of what the Inflation Reduction Act will do:
— Michael Bennet (@SenatorBennet) July 29, 2022
💊Lower prescription drug costs
🌎Make the largest ever climate & clean energy investment
💰Ensure the largest corporations pay their fair share
🌲 Invest in forest & watershed health
⬇️Cut the deficit
This is huge.
This is huge: The Senate has officially passed the Inflation Reduction Act. Democrats fought tooth and nail to pass this legislation to lower drug prices and secure a clean energy future, and we delivered.
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) August 7, 2022
Clean energy jobs