Congress should scrap the House Majority’s debt ceiling plan and defend the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), protecting recent progress on clean energy jobs, energy innovation and climate action. Since Congress passed the law last August, businesses have announced more than 170 major clean energy projects nationally, representing nearly $80 billion in corporate investments and at least 60,000 new jobs, according to analysis by Environmental Entrepreneurs).

 

The United States is undergoing steady gains from federal investments from funding for climate mitigation and clean energy policies are creating 1000s of new jobs, driving economic growth and revolutionizing our economy. The Inflation Reduction Act continues to promote American innovation across several sectors including energy, battery storage technology and transportation statewide.

 

At the same time in Washington, DC, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s poison pill budget proposal would gut previously approved and bipartisan clean energy investments. Unfortunately, Congress is picking a needless political fight by conflating the debt ceiling, which could derail the nation’s biggest economic prospects as it started to show dividends. 

 

“There’s a reason all these projects are happening: It’s called the federal Inflation Reduction Act, the sweeping policy designed to transition the American economy to a cleaner, more resilient future and make it more competitive in the global marketplace.  Republican lawmakers have vowed to kill these job-creating policies that Congress passed less than a year ago not because they’re bad for our economy or environment or American jobs and competitiveness, but solely to make a political point.  That’s regrettable. We send our elected officials to Washington to help create jobs and grow our economy back home, not kill off promising new employment opportunities for us and our children for the sake of a political fight.  We want them to pass policies that help America become more competitive and stronger, not weaker, as China and the rest of the world surge ahead in the global race for a clean, more resilient economy 

 

Joining us for our discussion on Can Your Environment Control Your Wealth  is BOB KEEFE from his DC Office.  Bob Keefe is Good For The Economy Good for The Environment Executive Director, overseeing E2’s work across the country and coordinating E2’s staff and chapters stretching from Boston to San Diego. Bob speaks regularly about the economic benefits of smart environmental policies, the clean energy economy, jobs and related issues, and has been widely quoted in publications nationwide. Prior to joining E2 in 2011, Bob spent more than 20 years as a political, business and environmental journalist. He served as the chief Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as a California-based national reporter for Cox Newspapers/Cox News Service, as technology editor for the Austin (Tx) American-Statesman and as a business and investigative reporter for the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times. Bob also co-founded a technology news website and has co-authored or edited several business-related books. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a fellow at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. His latest book, Climatenomics:Washington, Wall Street and The Economic Battle To Save Our Planet offers a step-by-step roadmap to successfully selling a business and includes in-depth advice from five preeminent industry contributors.  Welcome to Mastering Your Money, Bob Keefe