Race And Revision: The AP African American Studies Controversy
By Aydin Alsan · Cogito XIV ·On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the most ambitious action to fight climate change in the United States, was signed into law by President Biden. The Inflation Reduction Act addresses multiple issues; it lowers healthcare prices, creates job opportunities, and fights the climate crisis. The United States is the second-largest contributor of CO2 emissions in the world. The U.S. rejoining the Paris agreement is the beginning of measures to be taken toward addressing the growing climate crisis. The Paris agreement is a global treaty that is signed by several countries and aims to fight climate change. The IRA contributes to President Biden’s goal to cut carbon pollution from 2005 by at least 50% by 2030. With this new legislation, carbon emissions will go down an estimated 40% by 2030.
As one of the biggest steps the U.S. government has taken to fight the climate crisis, the IRA sets a strong foundation for future legislation and will help to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis by investing funds and promoting clean energy.
This legislation targets consumer costs and taxes, using finances to incentivize investments in clean energy. Overall, clean energy will become more affordable for families. For instance, 7.5 million more families will be able to put solar panels on their roofs, receiving a 30% tax credit for doing so. Tax credits and rebates will be made available for the purchase of electric vehicles. The IRA is applicable and helpful for countless people with different backgrounds. By implementing these measures, clean energy will become more affordable and convenient. The IRA also invests a total of $370 billion toward replaces CO2 emitters with greener technologies. In efforts to support green agricultural practices, the bill puts $20 billion in funding towards implementing sustainable practices, creating a more sustainable cycle. Clean energy is generally much more expensive than emission-emitting energy, like fossil fuels, which makes this action significant. With these sums of money, people can begin to replace emission-emitting technology. By providing funding specifically for the implementation of clean energy, the IRA takes direct action toward fighting the climate crisis.
While the IRA does not fight solely for climate justice, it provides $3 billion in funding to community-led projects in areas with disproportionate effects of climate change. For instance, countless communities, most of which contain members of minority groups, live with lower air quality due to the effects of climate change and are left without resources to make it better. However, the bill can also harm these communities. While it promotes clean energy, the bill also develops the U.S. oil and gas industry through compulsory lease sales. For the production of wind and solar renewables to begin, the government has to lease off portions of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska Cook Inlet for oil and gas development. These oil and gas sites will affect numerous communities with their emissions. The IRA takes a slight focus on fighting the disproportionate effects of climate change while also creating new challenges.
The Inflation Reduction Act provides high prospects for the fight against climate change. While there are many triumphs in the fight against the climate crisis, the IRA should further address climate change in the future. Nonetheless, the Inflation Reduction Act utilizes finances and funding to increase clean energy and help communities, making it one of the most effective actions taken by the United States to battle the climate crisis.
