Our Thoughts On The Inflation Reduction Act Being Signed Into Law

We mark a historic occasion as the Inflation Reduction Act is signed into law! 

It’s a tremendous legislative accomplishment to pass the largest climate bill ever, even more so with the slimmest margins in the Senate and House. President Biden and The White House Climate team deserve our uproarious applause, approbation, and appreciation for their steadfast resolve and leadership over the past 18 months to get us to this day. As do the Democrats in Congress and their staffs, the climate movement that we have worked tirelessly to drive and unite over the past two decades to bring together young people, environmental justice leaders, labor, faith, non-profits, business and sub-nationals to dream big and fight hard. As the President says, “People are policy”, and this is what happens when you stand up the first ever Climate Policy Office and empower climate leaders to drive a whole-of-government approach to tackling the climate crisis, you get transformational change.

This legislative win has been hard-fought, and a long time in the making, but it is truly monumental in its scope. Not only is it the largest climate investment of any nation in history (at $370B going to climate), but it’s projected to reduce carbon pollution by about 1 gigaton in 2030, or a billion metric tons, that’s 10 times more climate impact than any other single piece of legislation ever enacted (White House)!

Alongside the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that passed earlier this year with a $65B investment in power infrastructure, $21B in environmental remediation, $55B in clean drinking water infrastructure, and $50B in resilience and western water infrastructure, $7.5B for EV infrastructure and another $7.5B for zero emissions busses and ferries. Over the next five years, the nonpartisan energy think tank RMI estimates that the CHIPS and Science Act could direct an estimated $67 billion, or roughly a quarter of its total funding, toward accelerating the growth of zero-carbon industries and conducting climate-relevant research.

Sum those up, and we’re looking at an overall climate investment enacted by this congress that could reach over $643B. We said could reach because the CHIPS Act money is authorized, not already funded. Regardless, every one of these federal dollars in new climate investments from the US Government will make nearly every aspect of what Raise Green works on and finances less risky, more profitable, and will accelerate the US toward a ~40% reduction in carbon pollution by 2030.

Our work at Raise Green will be supercharged by the Inflation Reduction Act law. It also sets the US on a path to lower inflation, lower energy prices, and lead the world in the transition to a clean energy economy.

For four and a half years, Raise Green has worked to accelerate the deployment of clean energy and climate solutions, increase access to capital, and enable affordability for everyone to invest in and benefit from climate solutions.

We’re excited to play a role in helping to open up access to clean energy and climate investments and to implement many of the transformational programs included in the bill. 

Specifically:

• This law makes changes to the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and Production Tax Credit to make it permanent (10 years), more inclusive and fair. Raise Green’s expertise in community-scale solar and clean energy projects, and tax equity will position us to benefit greatly from these changes:

• For the first time, project developers have the opportunity to stack tax incentives, which means they can benefit from meeting prevailing wage, labor standards, workforce training, opening up access to low-moderate income customers, and using US products
• Developers can include the value of transmission costs in their ITC basis for projects under 1MW, making smaller projects more economical
• The law gives direct-pay of the ITC for non-profits, municipalities and county governments, unlocking benefits for non-profits to develop solar and benefit more directly from it. Something we advocated for persistently! 
• Raise Green’s expertise and approach to inclusive climate finance can empower heroic climate entrepreneurs and developers to capture this additional value and capitalize on it.

• The law includes tax credits for batteries and cutting-edge technologies that will benefit climate tech companies working to research, develop and deploy new technologies, many of which can seek early-stage funding on Raise Green.

• The law includes a $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (which we again advocated for heavily for years under the names of the National Green Bank or the Clean Energy Accelerator) that will leverage the types of private investments that Raise Green investors are making on our marketplace to drive greater speed and scale of deployment for climate solutions

• The law includes a whole host of additional incentives for energy, transportation, industry, agriculture and land-use, the built environment, and environmental justice that benefit many of Raise Green’s issuers, and will drive greater reliability and affordability of energy, reduce emissions, and save American families hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year.

It’s not just that these federal programs and dollars will accelerate the inclusive clean energy transition, but they’re wildly popular!

Voters reject the notion that the Inflation Reduction Act “goes too far” in addressing climate change, with most seeing its climate and clean energy policies as either doing “the right amount” on climate change or not going “far enough.”

The majority of voters (53%) believe that the Inflation Reduction Act as a whole does either “the right amount” or “doesn’t go far enough” to address climate change, while just 30% believe it “goes too far.”

The majority of voters (64%) believe that the Inflation Reduction Act’s provision to offer consumers tax credits for renewable energy items in their households either does “the right amount” or “doesn’t go far enough” to address climate change, while just 19% believe it “goes too far.”

The majority of voters (57%) believe that the Inflation Reduction Act’s provision to incentivize clean energy manufacturing with $60 billion in incentives either does the “right amount” or “doesn’t go far enough” to address climate change, while just 26% believe it “goes too far.”

H/t Climate Advocacy Lab POLITICO + Morning Consult Poll

People from all walks of life stand to benefit from this landmark move to supercharge the speed and scale of our clean energy and climate-resilient future that we want and need. The average household is eligible for $10k of rebates and incentives to electrify their homes and vehicles, and even if they take NO action at all, their energy costs are projected to drop by between $170 to $220 per year, which on net, saves Americans more than $200B per year in energy costs (Resources for the Future). That’s a few hundred dollars that can be reinvested in continuing to deploy more clean energy at a profitable rate! If cutting costs isn’t enough, it also makes us less reliant on foreign fossil fuel supply chains, strengthening our national security, and driving job creation right here at home. At Raise Green, we want everyone to have the opportunity to make your money do good – we’re on our way!