The work ahead
From August 2022 Newsletter
A couple weeks ago, I sat in a circle at Albert Meadow with ACTT staff and the 2022 summer interns. It was their final meeting and they shared reflections and presentations. We also talked about the Inflation Reduction Act that had just passed through the Senate, and our complex feelings regarding both the bill and the process it had been through.
Most of the coverage I’ve read regarding the Inflation Reduction Act, the slimmed-down version of “Build Back Better”, falls squarely in one of two camps: either “this is an incredible moment in the history of addressing climate change and we should all be celebrating” or “the cost of passing this bill is great and we should be concerned”. What many of these news pieces have lacked is something that is absolutely essential in working on climate change (and in life): nuance.
The passage of the IRA is a tremendously important step in addressing climate change. It is the first significant national piece of climate legislation in the United States, the country that carries the largest historical responsibility for causing the climate crisis in the first place.
The bill contains many important and impactful elements, like tax incentives to support rooftop solar and the purchase of electric vehicles and an accelerator program to help homeowners access technologies like heat pumps. The bill incentivizes energy efficiency at industrial sites where a large concentration of emissions occur. $60 billion is set aside to support domestic production of clean energy technologies. Another $60 billion is earmarked for climate justice priorities.
If implemented fully, the climate measures in the bill are projected to reduce emissions to 40% of 2005 levels by 2030. (A study by economic modelers at Rhodium Group had emissions falling to 24-to-35% of 2005 levels by 2030 without any additional action from Congress.) This is short of our Paris Climate Accord commitment of 50% reduction of 2005 levels by 2030, but it’s an important step in the right direction.
So, yes, there is much to celebrate. As news piece after news piece has stated, this bill means we as a country are actually inthe work of addressing climate change. It’s a step back into a game of life or death, literally.
But there are also pieces to mourn and a clarion call for vigilance. To get the bill passed, deals had to be made, particularly with Senator Joe Manchin. Specifically, provisions were added that clear permitting roadblocks for some fossil fuel projects and force the Department of Interior to hold more offshore oil lease sales. Many of the relevant fossil fuel projects will negatively impact vulnerable communities.
Then, there is the whole process involved, how difficult it was to get even this pared-down bill passed, and how overdue this legislation is. The fact that this is the first national climate bill in the U.S. is cause for celebration, yes, but, for me at least, it is also cause for grief. We have wasted so much time in partisan politics heavily influenced by the fossil fuel industry. So many people have been led to believe that the climate movement is not their movement or, even worse, that it would leave them in the dust. And those in the climate movement have not done enough to reach across aisles and chasms of misinformation to address that misperception.
I suppose where I end up is this: cautiously hopeful, very relieved, a bit sad and disappointed, and extremely vigilant. I’m celebrating this moment as one imperfect step on a much larger, complex journey.
It’s also a moment to reinforce local climate action. Much of the implementation of the IRA will come down to local communities. ACTT will work hard to follow the news and help everyone in our community access programs and support. And the bill has gaping holes which will, as always, be filled by the entities with direct knowledge of community needs. We are committed to doing this work on MDI and supporting others in doing so for communities throughout Maine.
When I left the intern meeting that sunny afternoon, I was filled with fuel for the work ahead. Not because of the Inflation Reduction Act, but because of the work and reflections shared by the interns. They presented on co-operative solar financing with profound insight. They taught me about community-wide composting possibilities. They reflected on what climate justice means at the local level. And they made recommendations for an ACTT social media campaign (thank goodness!). Every intern had meaningfully shaped this organization and the projects with which they had been involved. Each sat confidently in the space where their interests and talents intersected with the needs associated with addressing climate change. They all had something essential to contribute, and they knew what that was and how to breathe life into their contribution. A summer very, very well spent.