In August, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. The IRA allocates around $370 billion over ten years to invest in renewable energy, make EVs more affordable, address climate inequities, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help mitigate the climate crisis. 

The IRA follows the passage of the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. Taken together, the Biden administration hopes to jump-start a new era of U.S.-led innovation, research and economic growth. Carla Frisch, Principal Deputy Director at the Office of Policy for the U.S. Department of Energy, paints the picture of how the three bills work together:

“The analogy there we’ve been thinking about is the backbone, the brain and the lungs. So, the backbone being the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law...Then there's the brain, the CHIPS and Science Act and chips being the semiconductors that are in our cars, our computers, our cellphones. And then the third piece is the lung. So, breathing into that clean energy economy, the Inflation Reduction Act incentivizes deployment of clean technologies and really focus on lowering costs for American families.”

But like any law, the way the money is doled out matters, and the law’s implementation will ultimately determine its success. Frisch explains, “It does take time but I can tell you we’ve got a very committed team in the federal government right now and civil servants who are digging in and been waiting for the opportunity to rent some of these programs and already really moving forward quickly.”

Ryan Panchadsaram is adviser to the chairman of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, co-author of Speed & Scale, and also served as Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States during the Obama Administration. He says, “One thing to think about is actually as a series of laws that have passed that are going to make a lot of the climate realities we want to come to bear. So, in the earlier laws you have demonstration projects you have funding from things like the loan program office now they can support the building out of factories and facilities. And then you have really demand oriented incentives to make the purchasing of it cheaper in the market, right. So, you actually can get not only the factories created the supply there and actually the demand flowing.”

The Inflation Reduction Act promises to pour a ton of money into electrifying transportation. But new rules now restrict which electric vehicles qualify for a $7500 tax credit, limiting the cash back to models made in North America. But that’s only until January, then there are even more rules. Dan Bowerson, Senior Director of Energy & Environment at the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the car industry trade group, explains: 

“It gets much more complicated starting in January 1, 2023. So, the first thing that happens is that 200,000 vehicle cap is gone. So, for companies that had already hits that cap General Motors and Tesla that cap is no longer in play. It also implements a MSRP cap. So, it's $80,000 for vans, SUVs and pickups and $55,000 for cars. We also see the implementation of income cap. So, for couples filing jointly if you make over $300,000 you would not be eligible for a tax credit. And for individuals making over 150,000 you would be ineligible.”

In addition to all of the money and programs written into the IRA, legislators also defined carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses as pollutants. This is seen as an attempt to mitigate the damage done by the Supreme Court’s West Virginia v. EPA ruling, which severely limited the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Dean of Berkeley Law Erwin Chemerinsky explains how the Congressional clarification might affect the implementation of the Supreme Court’s ruling:

 “I think it changes the impact in that it makes clear that greenhouse gas emissions. Are pollutants. On the other hand, I don't know that that addresses the concern that the Supreme court had in West Virginia versus EPA, West Virginia versus EPA said the Congress hadn't been sufficiently specific in giving EPA the authority to regulate power plants in a certain way. So as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or to put it most simply, I think it goes part of the way to addressing what the Supreme court said, but it doesn't go all the way.” 

This week on Folk Alley join Elena See to honor the late Queen Elizabeth II with music from many of our favorite UK artists. Hear music from Sir Paul McCartney, The Beatles, Ralph McTell, John Renbourn, Richard & Linda Thompson, Shirley Collins, Sam Lee, Bella Hardy, Spell Songs, and more.

In hour two, hear new music from Amy Ray, James Keelghan, The Dropkick Murphys, and Lake Street Drive; an advance single from Sam Bush's new tribute to John Hartford, and a special new single from Tommy Prine. All this, plus favorites from Gillian Welch, Ani DiFranco, Rose Cousins, Laura Cortese, and more.

There is a growing movement to redefine manhood, and to address ways that violence is baked into our cultural expectations of masculinity. Courageous, visionary men are rising to the challenge. One of those men is activist, writer and public speaker Kevin Powell. In this half-hour, Powell boldly and bravely discusses his experiences with toxic masculinity and his journey to redefine what it means to be a man.

Our guest this week on Art of the Song is renowned singer/songwriter Eliza Gilkyson. Feeling the need to take a break from the socio-political music of her last six albums, the twice Grammy-nominated artist moved her base from Austin, TX to Taos, NM. 

We spoke with Eliza about her album, Songs From the River Wind, which she calls her love letter to the Old West. It’s composed of snapshots of the people and places, lives and loves lost and found over her years of wandering the West as a musical minstrel, searching for her heart’s home.

Coming up later in the show, we’ll hear producer Don Richmond talk about the process of recording Eliza’s album Songs from the River Wind, for the Creativity Corner.

This month on Climate Connections:

Air Date            Title:

Mon., 9/5 - The Green Workers Alliance wants to make sure green jobs pay fairly: More than 3 million people work in clean energy, but wages and labor standards vary greatly.

Tue., 9/6 - Century-old church saves money by going solar: Lower energy bills have allowed the church to put more money into community outreach.

Wed., 9/7 - New chief heat officer helps LA prepare for more heat waves: Marta Segura is working with the city to develop a plan to reduce heat-related hospitalizations and deaths.

Thu., 9/8 - The climate cost of space tourism: Rockets release pollutants that can persist in the upper atmosphere for two or more years.

Fri., 9/9 - Seattle utility aims to make electric vehicle charging more accessible: Seattle City Light plans to install 30 fast EV chargers on streets, giving priority to those near apartments, condos and mobile home parks.

Mon., 9/12 - San Francisco restaurant turns food waste into pizza: From off-cuts of meat to spent-oats in the crust, food waste is used in all stages of pizza served at Shuggie’s Trash Pie.

Tue., 9/13 - Parks could help communities stay safe in extreme weather: Shady, tree-filled green spaces can help people stay cool during heat waves, and provide a space to provide backup power and distribute food and water during power outages.

Wed., 9/14 - Colorado program helps homeowners reduce wildfire risk: The Boulder County consultation program is free to participants.

Thu., 9/15 - Almost half a million people have played this climate change card game: The game was created by Climate Fresk, a French organization, to make it easier for people to understand climate science.

Fri., 9/16 - 70% of recent home buyers considered disaster risk in deciding where to live: So Realtor.com now shows the risk of wildfire for specific properties.

Mon., 9/19 - New Orleans group helps families feed infants during emergencies: Birthmark Doula Collective trains first responders and distributes emergency feeding kits when disaster strikes.

Tue., 9/20 - Community forest project brings together people who have been excluded from environmentalism: With a new $4.5 million grant, the Shelterwood Collective will manage the land using Indigenous methods.

Wed., 9/21 - Nonprofit trains women and gender-nonconforming people for green jobs: Energy and construction are historically male-dominated industries.

Thu., 9/22 - App helps California volunteers prevent food waste: California is starting to require grocery stores and restaurants to donate unsold food, but businesses need help getting it to hungry people.

Fri., 9/23 - Massachusetts DOT and Ko-Solar add solar panels to stretch of highway noise barrier: The barrier near Lexington, which protects residents from the sound of traffic, will now also generate clean energy.

Mon., 9/26 - Scientists map hidden waterways under Naples: Researchers with the Cool Cities project believe that the water could be used to cool the city.

Tue., 9/27 - Utah house designed to be fossil-fuel-free: Roslynn McCann, who designed and lives in the home, gives tours to show the possibility of sustainable buildings.

Wed., 9/28 - Artificial islands could provide a refuge to people threatened by sea-level rise: But constructing them can damage underwater ecosystems.

Thu., 9/29 - How misael soto uses public art to help Miami Beach reckon with sea-level rise: For one project, they created an amphitheater out of sandbags.

Fri., 9/30 - Activists in Los Angeles won a ban on new oil and gas wells: Now they’re making sure the city follows through.