Congress is trying to dismantle the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and one of the pieces of the IRA that is under attack is the environmental and climate change provisions. The USCCB supported this historic bill because of its unprecedented investments to decarbonize our economy, prepare communities to cope with extreme weather, and bring justice to communities long overburdened by pollution and most vulnerable to climate impacts. Despite some environmental provisions having bipartisan support, the bill proposes to repeal programs, such as: - Tax credits for families to purchase new or used electric vehicles, energy-efficient appliances, and building materials.
- Additional incentives for investments in low-income rural and urban households, including communities of color and tribal nations.
- Innovative financing for local governments and nonprofits, including Catholic dioceses, to benefit from tax incentives to provide clean energy, such as community solar projects, and purchase energy-efficient building upgrades and sustainable transportation, including EV school buses.
- Community grants to improve environmental health in low-income communities, communities of color, Native American communities and others impacted by energy production and industrial pollution.
- Grants and loans to jumpstart jobs and manufacturing of electric vehicles, battery and battery recycling, windmills, and solar panels.
- Programs to support ecosystem restoration, conservation, and national service.
Since its passage, the IRA has generated an estimated $600 billion in private investment across roughly 750 domestic clean-energy projects, creating more than 406,000 new American jobs. But some projects have been paused or canceled due to federal spending freezes and the threat to repeal the law, already costing at least 42,000 announced job losses. In the weeks following the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’, we ask you to fill out the USCCB’s action alert and contact your member of Congress, and let them know that you care about creation and support the Inflation Reduction Act! |
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