WASHINGTON ― U.S. companies have created more than 300,000 clean energy jobs since President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022, according to a detailed new analysis from an environmental advocacy group.
Climate Power, a left-leaning organization focused on combating climate change, has been tracking public announcements of clean energy jobs from the private sector since the law’s passage. As of May 31, it found that U.S. companies have announced or moved forward with projects accounting for more than 312,900 new clean energy jobs for electricians, mechanics, construction workers, technicians, support staff and others.
Other researchers have projected the law will create more than 5 million clean energy jobs over the next decade. Both Climate Power and E2, a group of business leaders who advocate for environmental polices, have noted that Republican-led congressional districts benefited the most from the bipartisan law in its first year.
The Inflation Reduction Act, which provides more than $369 billion in clean energy incentives, is one of Biden’s major accomplishments as president. It is also considered the most significant action Congress has ever taken on clean energy and climate change.
Here’s a copy of Climate Power’s analysis:
IRA Created 300,000 Clean Energy Jobs by jen_bendery on Scribd
This embedded content is not available in your region.
Climate Power also just released new polling on clean energy and climate issues, and found that a top concern among voters is Donald Trump’s stated plans to gut the law. The former president and presumptive 2024 Republican nominee criticized the Inflation Reduction Act last month at a campaign event in Wisconsin. At a rally in September 2023, Trump claimed that Biden’s electric vehicle mandates would “spell the death of the U.S. auto industry.”
Earlier this month, Climate Power led a letter to congressional leaders with more than 300 clean energy business leaders from 42 states, urging them to resist any efforts to weaken the Inflation Reduction Act. House Republicans are currently using the 2024 appropriations process to push for cuts to the law’s climate and infrastructure investments.
“Repealing the clean energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act would be nothing short of an economic and national security disaster,” the business leaders warned.
Trump recently met with oil and gas executives and asked them for $1 billion for his campaign ― in exchange for dismantling Biden’s climate regulations if he wins the election in November. Senate committee chairmen have since launched an investigation into Trump’s apparent quid pro quo with oil and gas companies.
Trump reportedly made even more promises to oil industry executives at a fundraiser last month. A campaign spokesperson declined to answer The Washington Post’s questions about the fundraiser, instead saying that “Trump is supported by people who share his vision of American energy dominance to protect our national security and bring down the cost of living for all Americans.”
Jobs and the economy will almost certainly come up when Biden and Trump participate in their first presidential debate on Thursday night.
Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power and previously a deputy communications director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016, said Trump’s potential plans to roll back Biden’s clean energy law would hand over America’s economic future to China.
“Donald Trump is promising to kill more than 300,000 American clean energy jobs as part of his billion dollar ‘deal’ with oil executives, and he needs to answer for it,” Lodes said in a statement.