- One year on, the Inflation Reduction Act has sparked a green revolution in the US.
- Tax breaks have seen a surge in sales of electric vehicles and heat pumps.
- The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023 says demand for green jobs is rising globally.
For a piece of legislation aimed at slowing price rises, the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has had a big impact on the environment. In fact, many experts have credited the sweeping law with turbocharging a green revolution in the US.
The IRA, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in August 2022, included billions of dollars of investments and tax breaks to advance the country’s green energy transition and boost sustainability efforts. One year on, here’s how the IRA has impacted the US’s green economy.
More green jobs
The IRA has been credited with creating more than 170,000 new green jobs across the country over the last 12 months. Non-profit Climate Power found that by July 2023, over 270 new clean energy projects had been implemented nationwide, amounting to $278 billion in new investments.
These include projects from Arizona to New York, including investment in wind turbine manufacture, solar power infrastructure, battery facilities and the first US electrolyser production facility.
For example, Vestas, a World Economic Forum partner, has released plans to manufacture its newest wind turbine in Colorado, investing $40 million and creating jobs.
Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Toyota, another Forum partner, has scaled-up its investment, pouring $2.5 billion into its electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in the state.
Some experts say the IRA has stimulated efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to such an extent that forecasts of the degree to which the US is now expected to cut its emissions by 2030 have been revised upwards from a fifth to as much as 42%.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023 said the rapid growth in demand for green jobs could create 9 million new jobs globally each year. Energy-intensive industries were leading the green recruitment wave in the US, Europe and India, the report said.
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Source: europeansting.com
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