Forecasters say the president’s clean-energy incentives will be more effective than they had originally expected, in part because of new federal regulations.

Forecasters say the president’s clean-energy incentives will be more effective than they had originally expected, in part because of new federal regulations.

The estimated price tag for President Biden’s clean-energy and climate agenda has effectively doubled since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law a year and a half ago.

Nearly all of the increase is attributable to forecasters’ belief that the law will be more popular than they had originally expected, in part because of the way the Biden administration wrote certain regulations. That rising price tag may actually be good for reducing greenhouse gas emissions — and for the U.S. economy.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats passed on a party-line vote in summer 2022, includes tax credits and other subsidies for low-emission energy technologies that are meant to help wean the nation from fossil fuels.

Many of those credits are effectively unlimited, meaning the more people or companies choose to claim them, the more they will add to federal deficits. The uncapped credits include incentives for manufacturers to build solar-panel or wind-turbine factories, and for consumers to buy electric vehicles. Budget scorekeepers have to estimate how popular those credits will be, in order to forecast how much they’ll cost.

Non-paywall link

  • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    3·
    11 months ago

    I can’t wait for the IRA to actually go into swing as far as the incentives for efficiency upgrades and electrification for residential properties are concerned.

    I own a super old house and I’m not at all well off (bought in 2013, because I needed somewhere I couldn’t get evicted from, and my disability covers most of the mortgage, but I don’t have stable employment) so taking care of weatherproofing is way outside of my budget.

    My house is drafty af, being 140 years old and not super well maintained, and we get cold winters - yearly average temp here is 40f. If I keep the heat at 60, which is a temp at which my hands and feet go numb if I’m in it all day, my heat-only bill is like 150/mth (which is still high) at 62 it’s $200+\mth. 65 it jumps to 300+, and heaven forbid I go with 68, cuz that’s well beyond 400/mth.

    Sure that saving for myself would be great, but my house is heated with gas, so it would also reduce emissions, and that’s sort of the point. It would also free up a bit of funding for economic stimulation (what with spending a small fortune on heat every year). Win-win.

    • BombOmOm@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Drafts are a huge killer. Anywhere you can see daylight through a crack should be sealed up. That alone makes a big difference in comfort and gas bills. The good news is door strips and insulating sealant foam are inexpensive.

      After those easier things are taken care of though, prices for things like a new set of double pained windows or upgrading the insulation are quite high. But, at least hit up the easy ones in the first paragraph yourself. Killing the drafts makes a world of difference.

      • Apathy Tree@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        11 months ago

        I replaced all the windows the first year I lived here (they were shitty wood single pane double hung, and I used to work for a door and window company so it was an easy call), but left the storm windows for the extra airspace. The doors/windows aren’t drafty, the structure of the house itself is, especially where different materials tie together. I can’t see light through any of it but I can feel the air movement. Arguably worse. It’s just settled over time, and come apart at the seams. (I can relate)

        I need to remove all the siding and exterior insulation, reseal, seal the foundation, reinsulate, and reside it to take care of the problem. Which is going to be very expensive, and why I haven’t already done it. I’m looking at roughly 1/5-1/4 the total I paid for the place to do this.

        This isn’t a small draft issue, unfortunately, it’s a huge one. I’ve already done all the small stuff cuz it’s so expensive to not.

  • من البحر إلى النهر@lemmy.world
    529·
    11 months ago

    Biden has talked the climate talk, but is he walking the walk?

    US holds first of several oil and gas auctions as COP28 gets underway

    Edit: I love how people are giving Biden excuses, clearly a cult. Funny no one in the West/US gave the UAE and other Arab countries the same benefit of the doubt when it came to oil deals during COP28. Hypocrisy? Racism? It doesn’t matter, I like pointing it out.

    • MicroWave@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      294·
      11 months ago

      From your article beyond the headline:

      Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a climate change law passed last year, made oil and gas auctions a prerequisite for renewable energy development. It also, however, requires higher royalty rates and minimum bids meant to boost taxpayer returns.

      Biden’s Interior Department has issued far fewer new leases than previous administrations. The agency issued 527 leases in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 combined, compared with 2,740 in the previous two years, during the Trump administration, according to BLM data.

    • BombOmOm@lemmy.worldEnglish
      103·
      11 months ago

      We have seen huge restrictions on oil products due to Russia invading Ukraine. Countries need to get their oil from somewhere else; with the US being one of the best options for bulk sourcing.

    • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
      103·
      11 months ago

      Yeah it’s almost like a war suddenly broke out that cut most of the US’ allies off from their normal oil supplies meaning that even in transition to green energy the US has to raise oil production to balance the prices out!

      To transition from one source of energy to the other you have to still have the first source to make it as easy as possible.

    • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
      104·
      11 months ago

      Yep. Walking the walk.

      Biden canceled the keystone XL pipeline.

      Biden actually committed money to combating climate change, which no president has done in any significant capacity until now.

      Biden stopped a bunch of drilling on public lands that was illegal until dumps made it legal for a few years.

      Biden’s renovating hundreds of thousands of government buildings and government vehicles with sustainable technology.

      Biden established two white house committees focused on identifying and recommending solutions for environmental problems in the country that affect communities.

    • rjthyen@lemm.ee
      22·
      11 months ago

      I am going to guess you are not American. Our system is kind of fucked I’ll admit, but at the moment it appears our options will be Biden or Trump. Knowing what you know who would you vote for? In our current system a third party vote used to be the signal of “our two party system sucks.” But in the present world it feels like we’re stuck with either meet and the middle and hope or burn it all to the ground.