The Secret Weapon of the New Climate Bill? Tax Credits

The bill is a way to get Americans to move towards a cleaner future. It is turning small individual actions into collective action.

The debate over how much individual change matters in the face of systemic problems has been going on for a long time. Is it really important if you reduce your flights to reduce your carbon footprint? Air travel is a small fraction of global emissions, and there is an international economic system that runs almost entirely on fossil fuels. Wouldn't it be more effective to change the behavior of the airlines or oil companies?

Jamie Alexander is the director of Drawdown Labs at Project Drawdown, a nonprofit that supports climate action. This deal shows how those are not really two separate things. Demand at a household level can help shift the system.

In the power grid of the future, residents won't be consumers so much as participants. If more people have their own solar panels and store energy in large home batteries, they can give up some of their extra power when they don't use it. When there is a shortage of at- home batteries, utility operators could use those extra at- home batteries. People would work together instead of relying on fossil fuel– powered utilities to keep the heat on.

Alexander feels that it's empowering to equip individuals to address climate change and be better equipped for the world that we're going to be living in. Making homes more energy efficient will help address resilience in the face of changing weather.

Texas' precarious power grid faced another test this month as people powered up their AC units in the heat. Desperately trying to cool poorly insulated homes with inefficient appliances strains the power grid as temperatures rise. Better insulation, thicker windows, and ultra- efficient heat pumps are things that can be done before the heat gets any worse. The grid and public health in general will be grateful for it.

It may be difficult to find the labor to do all this work. The Civilian Climate Corps would put Americans to work retrofitting homes and cultivating green spaces in order to cool urban areas. That wasn't included in the new bill. There is a shortage of trained labor to deploy the clean tech revolution in the US.

Casale says the bill isn't perfect. More offshore drilling is mandated by it. It doesn't penalize utilities for not using more renewable energy The Senate is expected to vote on the bill in the next few weeks. The tax credits have the potential to make American homes more energy efficient. Casale says the tax credits piece is very important. If we can get this over the finish line, it will be a huge step forward.