The incentives contained in the IRA could represent a great opportunity for Puerto Rico as it takes on the challenge of building its economy of the future. Puerto Rico’s tax status as an unincorporated territory with residents that do not pay federal income taxes, however, requires the U.S. Department of the Treasury to provide clear eligibility guidance for residents of Puerto Rico to fully benefit from IRA. 

As DOE develops its demand-side strategy, it should view it as part of a holistic industrial strategy. Awards should reflect the value-added role of demand-side support for target sectors and technologies as part of a comprehensive strategy. We urge DOE—and other relevant agencies and offices—to publicly outline such a strategy after incorporating stakeholder input, building on DOE’s Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap.

The U.S. Treasury Department yesterday released guidance for $10 billion of credits for the advanced energy projects 48C(e) program. The department outlined the goals of the program, including expanding U.S. manufacturing capacity and quality jobs for clean energy technologies; reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. industrial sector; securing domestic supply chains for critical materials that serve as inputs for clean energy technology production; and driving investments into energy communities.

When buildings are designed, built, and maintained to protect the health of people and the environment—and if the manufacturing of building products and materials create good-paying union jobs in the U.S.—then the wellbeing of people and communities will improve, especially for people of color. Building Clean works to increase the use of building products that are more efficient, less toxic, and manufactured in the U.S. We aim to improve the physical, environmental, and economic health of communities and promote a more equitable future for all.

In response to the president’s State of the Union address, the BlueGreen Alliance released the following statement from Executive Director Jason Walsh.

Congress and President Biden have passed major landmark legislation that will dramatically address climate change as well as racial and economic inequality. In addition to significant executive action, we expect President Biden to tout three pieces of legislation in his State of the Union address: the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction Act. These bills will support and create millions of good union jobs, rebuild and modernize our infrastructure, revitalize domestic manufacturing, and make our planet, our workers, and our communities safer and healthier.

Midwest States Director Bree Halverson sent a letter urging Minnesota State Senators to support for the Senate File 4 (Frentz) / House File 7 (Long)—the 100% Clean Energy Bill. The group said is time for a 100% clean energy law in our state tied to labor and equity standards and highlighted a few impactful measures…

Together they will revitalize U.S. manufacturing, grow clean energy, and support and create good union jobs in Minnesota and around the country. They will also significantly reduce climate emissions. The Inflation Reduction Act alone will tackle climate change by reducing emissions up to 42% by 2030.

As BOEM advances offshore wind processes from lease area identification to project development, it should utilize its authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to create a high-road, responsibly developed offshore wind industry. 

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today completed the first-ever lease sale for offshore wind rights on the West Coast. The sale represents the first U.S. offshore wind lease sale in the Pacific Ocean and is the first to support the potential for commercial-scale floating offshore wind.

The EPA has a unique opportunity through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to deliver meaningful, lasting benefits in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released new guidance for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements included in the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law in August, includes—for the first time—high-road labor standards that go hand-in-hand with clean energy deployment. Specifically, to receive the full value of the tax credit, developers will have to pay a prevailing wage and utilize a certain percentage of registered apprentices in the projects. The guidance released today provides further details of how those requirements will work.