Efforts to wean the world’s second largest emitter off fossil fuels took a significant step forward this week, with US Congress approving legislation that aimed at turbocharging the country’s decarbonisation programme.
The Inflationary Relief Act (IRA), among other things, will offer financial incentives to people who buy new and used electric cars and heat pumps for their homes. Tax credits will also be offered to electricity generators supplying green energy — a welcome boost for the country’s burgeoning renewables sector.
Preliminary analysisThe IRA could reduce US emissions by as much as 44 percent in the next decade, according to some estimates. “It makes big polluters pay more than they have in a generation,” said Friends of the Earth. “It is an investment in renewables designed to support good paying jobs, domestic supply chains, and historically marginalised communities.”
However, the legislation has also disappointed climate campaigners, who say it lacks ambition and gives a lifeline to “fossil fuel industry scams” such as carbon capture. You can read the complete Friends of the Earth analysis here.
Image: Gert Boers
