One year ago today, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, putting the nation on a path to clean up the nation’s air and water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 42% by 2030. Over the last year, the law has already begun to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, grow clean energy, and support and create good union jobs across the country.

Last year, fueled by a desire to buck the status quo that has chipped away at workers’ health, safety, and rights for too long, the BlueGreen Alliance advocated tirelessly for a historic climate and jobs bill. We called for a bill based on the core tenet that the clean economy should work for working people, while protecting the environment and people’s health. It should also create good-paying, accessible jobs for all.

Just one year after being signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act is helping to build a clean economy that does all that. If it is implemented correctly and the jobs created are good, safe, union jobs for all workers.

Today the BlueGreen Alliance released a new visualization of hard-hit areas across the United States that stand to benefit from the investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and CHIPS and Science Act. The map highlights communities impacted by the decline of domestic industrial manufacturing, the energy transition, and disproportionate environmental, economic, and health burdens.

Our newest map highlights the opportunity for strong equity and labor standards to equip hard-hit communities to translate the investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act into higher-paying jobs, cleaner air, improved health, and stronger local economies.

Reducing methane emissions in the United States is yet another example of how the nation’s environmental challenges can also be economic opportunities. Methane is a greenhouse gas (GHG) that is many times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) and one of the largest contributors to climate change. Reducing methane emissions can reap economic benefits for…

The Colorado BlueGreen Alliance Coalition secured high road labor protections for a variety of clean energy solutions including landmark legislation to ensure that all large energy-sector projects will include labor standards in line with eligibility requirements outlined in the Inflation Reduction Act’s enhanced tax credits.

The Inflation Reduction Act extended and strengthened tax credits for investment in and production of a range of clean energy technologies—including solar, geothermal, wind, heat pumps, clean hydrogen, electric vehicles (EVs) and charging infrastructure—and energy storage technology. Critically, tax-exempt entities, such as public schools, non-profit hospitals, and Tribal, local, and state governments can now claim the tax credits in the form of “direct pay.”

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today signed memoranda of understanding (MOUs) pledging to work together to ensure the use of high-road labor standards on DOI and EPA funded projects. Lee Geisse, Ohio Regional Program Manager for the BlueGreen Alliance, joined the event, participating in a fireside chat about the importance of bringing together diverse stakeholders with Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su.

The Inflation Reduction Act makes a historic investment in clean energy deployment and reducing our climate pollution, while coupling both labor and domestic content standards with clean energy tax credits. For the first time ever, an additional ‘bonus’ tax credit is available for taxpayers utilizing domestically-sourced components and materials. To find out more, read our User Guide to Domestic Content to find out more about the Domestic Content bonus credit. 

The 117th Congress passed historic infrastructure legislation that can be utilized to retrofit buildings, including Municipal, University, School, and Hospital (MUSH) buildings. MUSH buildings are particularly important, serving as essential community assets that represent significant opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve health outcomes, build climate resilience, and support and create good, local jobs all while addressing equity and environmental justice. The objective of this roadmap is to identify the federal funding opportunities available through the Inflation Reduction Act, The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and, in the case of schools, the American Rescue Plan, that can be used to upgrade MUSH buildings. 

The BlueGreen Alliance today released Aluminum, Revitalized: Strengthening the Backbone of Our Clean Economy, a comprehensive report on how to reverse the recent decline of the U.S. aluminum industry to meet rising aluminum demand for clean energy while creating good-paying jobs, strengthening national security, and reducing industrial emissions.

As one of the most important metals for modern life, aluminum is all around us. From our bridges and high-rise buildings to our smartphones and kitchen appliances, this highly durable, lightweight, and conductive material is essential. It’s also a key ingredient for achieving our climate, jobs, and national security goals. As a primary component of solar panels, power lines, electric vehicles (EVs), and other clean technologies, aluminum is a building block of our clean energy solutions.1 At the same time, producing aluminum requires a tremendous amount of energy, and globally, the sector is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As the world produces increasing amounts of this material for the clean energy economy, we must simultaneously decrease the emissions from its production in order to achieve global climate targets.