This Labor Day, we sit at a pivotal moment for our nation. As urgency grows to reduce emissions and clean up our air and water, we need to consider the lack of foresight that brought us to this point and move forward in a smarter way.

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.

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the proposed IRS Regulations on Elective Pay to ensure the maximum uptake of these uncapped credits. These credits will support U.S. climate and equity goals and will create good jobs that are built into the tax credits through incentives for using high-road labor standards.

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.

The Title 17 Innovative Technologies Loan Guarantee Program is a critical opportunity to improve the deployment of clean technologies that are vital to meeting our climate goals while providing high-quality jobs in construction, operations and maintenance, and manufacturing.

The BlueGreen Alliance, a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations, has released new data highlighting the potential for clean energy, clean manufacturing, and infrastructure investments to resonate with noncollege educated people. According to the survey, an overwhelming 72% of noncollege educated people surveyed approve of significant federal investments in clean energy and clean manufacturing.

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) today reintroduced the Rebuild America’s Schools Act, a bill to invest $130 billion to repair, rebuild, and modernize the physical and digital infrastructure of the nation’s school facilities and grounds.

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 extended and strengthened tax credits for investment in and production of a range of clean energy technologies. The law included a “direct pay” option for which the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today released new guidance. The guidance will help public and tax-exempt entities—public schools, nonprofit hospitals, and tribal, local, and state governments—to recoup a significant portion of a clean energy project’s cost as a cash payment from the IRS.