With the Inflation Reduction Act, the US brings climate goals within reach

Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The House voted on Friday to clear the way for the biggest clean energy package in US history. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law soon, which will allow the US to reach its climate goals.

Building up domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles and clean energy technologies is one of the main goals of the bill. $4 billion has been set aside to promote resilience in the west. The bill spends $65 billion on healthcare subsidies to prevent insurance premiums from rising for people who buy their coverage through the public marketplace.

According to independent analyses, the Inflation Reduction Act cuts US greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from peak levels this decade. Biden committed to a cut of 50 to 52 percent. As global temperatures rise, it would go a long way to prevent disastrous heatwaves, wildfires, hurricanes, and other climate-driven disasters. To avoid coral reef extinction and double the percentage of the global population exposed to extreme heatwaves, greenhouse gas emissions need to be slashed by half this decade.

The bill was seen as the last chance for the Democrats to pass climate legislation. The reconciliation bill was passed by the Senate after a long negotiation with Sen. Joe Manchin.

The final bill will mandate more federal lease sales for oil and gas drilling as part of the compromise. Tax credits for carbon capture technologies are expanded. Big Oil shoots captured carbon into the ground to extract hard to reach reserves and then claims that the oil they produce is carbon neutral.

Democrats are working on a side deal that would make it easier to build natural gas lines. Climate and environmental justice advocates warn that the measures could prolong fossil fuel dependence and the pollution that comes with it.

The US is the second biggest climate polluter in the world after China. The current push to cut US emissions is important to the global effort to limit climate change.