Backers of the Inflation Reduction Act say its historic funding is helping build a clean-energy future, but a National Climate Emergency Plan is still needed to prepare for the extreme weather to come.
More than 1,000 elected officials have signed on to the plan, which would invoke the Defense Production Act to speed up efforts toward a 100% clean-energy economy.
Alex Cornell du Houx, president and co-founder of the group Elected Officials to Protect America and a former state representative in Maine, said nearly 100 gigawatts of new clean-energy have been announced in the last eight months alone.
“That’s enough to power 20 million homes, or one in seven homes in the U.S.,” Cornell du Houx explained.
He noted the Defense Department has referred to climate change as a national security threat and nations are looking to the U.S. for leadership on how to transition to clean energy for their own security and health.
Backers of the Inflation Reduction Act say it also has the ability to create millions of jobs in the clean-energy sector, including in Maine, where state lawmakers recently approved the creation of a new offshore wind-energy industry.
Cornell du Houx pointed out the law is also spurring private investment leveraging at rates higher than expected.
“The opportunities are endless of how we can increase the ability of the IRA to help our communities around the United States,” Cornell du Houx emphasized.
He added continued funding from the Inflation Reduction Act as well as the bipartisan infrastructure law will not only help create jobs but ensure communities can prepare for what climate change may bring.
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