Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act -- you know, that's the law Democrats passed with zero Republican votes, but that Republican weasels are happy to take credit for at the ribbon- cutting! Among the historic law's notable features is its targeting of under- served communities:
The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced that billions of dollars slated for investments in clean energy, electric vehicles and batteries under the Inflation Reduction Act will go to relatively underserved communities throughout the country.
The announcement comes as the IRA, the Biden administration’s landmark law targeting manufacturing, infrastructure and climate change, turns one year old. The more than $500 billion in announced investments, $200 billion of which is in the clean energy sector, is a key goal of the legislation, according to the Treasury.
A senior Treasury official told reporters on Wednesday that the agency is also seeing meaningful private investment in the efforts. The indicators rebut old notions that private investment suffers when large public initiatives go into effect, the official said.
A Treasury report released Wednesday attributed the projected outcomes to “modern supply-side economics,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s term to describe policies that prioritize economic growth along with climate change or inequality.
Concrete data on the true effectiveness of IRA investments will not be available for several years, but available public figures show that companies plan to take advantage of bonuses in the law to invest in disadvantaged communities, according to the report.
The report cites data on the Biden-Harris administration’s Invest.Gov website that shows that nearly 90% of the announced clean technology investments are in counties with below average weekly wages.
Over 80%, are also in counties with lower than average college graduation rates, 65% are in counties with above average overall poverty rates and an equal percentage are in counties where a lower than normal share of the population is employed, according to the report...
The historic law's effects on the economy, jobs, climate, health care costs, and energy costs are expected to increase over the coming years. That's what you get when you have a party in power that's interested in using government for the benefit of the people.
Many of those same people sometimes have a hard time connecting the dots, or seeing the benefits of the law that they can't "feel." Many, of course, wouldn't give President Biden or Democrats credit if their life depended on it, which it sometimes does. But, as economist Mark Zandi points out in the linked article,
“The most likely scenario is that by this time next year, inflation will be even lower and real compensation higher. At the same time, unemployment will still be low, certainly below 4%,” he said. “This improving economy should slowly, but steadily, seep into the consciousness of voters and be a tailwind to the president’s re-election bid.”
(Photo: At the IRA signing on August 16, 2022 / Demetrius Freeman, Washington Post)
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