But younger Democrats and climate activists want more. They see the bill as an advance and worry that a complacent electorate will believe Washington has finally solved climate change — when in fact scientists warn it has only taken the necessary first steps. “This bill is not the bill that my generation deserves and needs to fully prevent climate catastrophe, but it is what we can pass given the power we have right now,” said Varshini Prakash, 29, co-founder . the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate activism group; “We’re very clear that it took this long because our Congress and Senate don’t look like the American people,” said Ms. Ramirez, whose group is working to elect more young progressives committed to attacking global warming. “The climate crisis will unfold on the majority of young people. Most of these congressmen will be dead by the time we face the consequences of their inaction.” In a letter to members of Congress, Ms. Ramirez and about 50 other youth leaders told lawmakers “your work is not done.” The House voted 220-207 on Friday to pass the Inflation Relief Act, with Democrats pushing ahead of the united Republican opposition. It was a repeat of earlier this week, when Senate Democrats passed the bill without a single Republican vote. The legislation provides $370 billion over a decade for investments in wind, solar power, clean hydrogen, energy storage and other measures aimed at weaning the US economy away from the fossil fuels that have underpinned it for more than a century. Analysts estimate that the new law will reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the United States to their lowest level since Lyndon Johnson was president — 20 percent below 2005 levels by the end of this decade, beyond a another 20 percent reduction that will occur as a result of market forces already in place. Together, this would eliminate about one billion tons of pollution annually by the end of 2030, nearly enough to meet Mr. Biden’s pledge to cut emissions by 50% by 2030. Sen. Patrick Leahy, 82, D-Vermont, praised the legislation when it passed the Senate as “a once-in-a-generation bill to actually address the real threats of climate change,” a characterization echoed by several colleagues of. But scientists say the United States needs to do more. It must stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2050, which the bill will not achieve. That’s the target all major economies must meet to limit the average rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels, scientists say. Beyond this threshold, the likelihood of catastrophic droughts, floods, wildfires and heat waves increases significantly. The planet has already warmed by an average of about 1.1 degrees Celsius. “It’s like losing 20 pounds when you should be losing 100 pounds,” said Robert McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, an energy consulting firm. “And that won’t get you there.”
What the law provides for the reduction of inflation
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What the law provides for the reduction of inflation
Substantive legislation. The $370 billion climate, tax and health care package passed by Congress on August 12 could have far-reaching effects on the environment and the economy. Here are some of the key provisions:
What the law provides for the reduction of inflation
Automobile industry. Until now, taxpayers could get up to $7,500 in tax credits for the purchase of an electric vehicle, but there was a limit on how many cars from each manufacturer were eligible. The new law would eliminate that limit and extend the tax credit through 2032. Used cars would qualify for a credit of up to $4,000.
What the law provides for the reduction of inflation
Energy industry. The bill would provide billions of dollars in rebates for Americans who buy energy-efficient and electrical appliances. Companies will receive tax credits for building new emission-free electricity sources. The package also includes $60 billion earmarked to encourage clean energy production and penalties for methane emissions that exceed federal limits starting in 2024.
What the law provides for the reduction of inflation
Health Care. For the first time, Medicare could negotiate with pharmacists on the price of some prescription drugs. The bill would also extend subsidies available under the Affordable Care Act, which were set to expire at the end of the year, for an additional three years.
What the law provides for the reduction of inflation
Tax code. The bill would introduce a new minimum corporate tax of 15% on profits that companies report to shareholders, which would apply to companies that report more than $1 billion in annual revenue, but can use credits, deductions and other tax treatments to reduce the effective tax rates. The legislation would bolster the IRS with an investment of about $80 billion.
What the law provides for the reduction of inflation
Low-income communities. The package includes more than $60 billion to support low-income communities and communities of color disproportionately burdened by climate change. Among the provisions are grants for zero-emissions technology and money to mitigate the negative impacts of highways and other transportation facilities.
What the law provides for the reduction of inflation
Fossil fuel industry. The legislation would require the federal government to auction off more public land for oil drilling and expand tax credits for coal and gas-fired plants based on carbon capture technology. Those provisions are among those added to win the support of Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-West Virginia.
What the law provides for the reduction of inflation
West Virginia. The law is expected to bring big benefits to Mr. Manchin’s state, the nation’s second-largest coal producer, by making permanent a federal trust fund to support miners with black lung disease and offering new incentives to build wind and solar farms in areas where the coal mines or coal plants have recently closed. “After the champagne is drunk, there will be a moment of sobriety,” he said. “How do you close the rest of this gap?” To meet his 2030 goal, Mr. Biden would have to impose new regulations on emissions from power plants, vehicle exhaust and methane leaks from oil and gas wells. State and local governments should set new standards to force rapid adoption of electric cars, wind and solar power, and energy-efficient buildings to catch up with the last 100 percent. For the much heavier lift — essentially eliminating the nation’s fossil fuel emissions over the next two decades — Congress will need to enact even more ambitious legislation than the historic bill that just passed by a slim majority, experts said. To reach zero emissions by 2050, Congress will have to shoulder the politically difficult burden of taxing, penalizing, banning or phasing out the global warming coal, oil and natural gas pollution. “It’s going to be necessary for Congress to step up,” said Dallas Bertrau, an energy policy expert at Resources for the Future, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan energy and environmental research organization. The new law gives Congress some time to act, Mr. Burtraw said. “It doesn’t have to happen today or tomorrow or this year or next year,” he said. “But it has to happen before the end of this decade.” Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, 56, who chairs the House progressives’ committee, said that in addition to deeper cuts in emissions, young and racially diverse climate advocates want new provisions that also protect low-income neighborhoods and people of color communities, which are disproportionately affected by climate impacts. “They’re really talking about it from this integrated perspective of jobs, equity and decarbonization,” he said. Representative Sean Casten, Democrat of Illinois and a scientist who owned a clean energy company, said Democrats and activists deserve “an end zone dance” after the bill is signed and then get back to work. In the short term, Congress should ease the construction of transmission lines and other facilities needed to allow the explosion of solar, wind and other renewable energy promised by the new law, he said. Mr. Casten, 50, also wants Congress to eliminate tax breaks and other subsidies given to the oil, gas and coal industries – a move he said would challenge markets to “properly allocate capital” to clean energy industries. “We need to be clear as lawmakers that we are not going to be judged on whether we voted yes or no on this bill,” he said. “We will be judged on whether atmospheric CO2 is lower or higher 10 years from now.” Even as scientific evidence links climate change to extreme weather events that cause death and destruction in the United States, polls show the American electorate is divided along party lines over the scale of the problem and what to do about it. A Pew poll released in July found that a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents, about 82 percent, say Biden’s climate policies are hurting the country, while 79 percent of Democrats and those who lean to the left they were generally supportive. However, Republicans between the ages of 18 and 29 surveyed were more likely than older adults to say the federal government should act on climate change, and 64 percent wanted the government to require energy companies to use more renewable energy sources. And younger Americans of both parties — those born after 1981 — are more likely to be politically engaged on climate change than older generations, according to a 2021 Pew survey. Lake Celinda, a…
