Are you baffled by the fine print in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)? You are not alone. The The highly anticipated advice from the US Treasury Department battery purchase requirements for electric vehicle tax credits will result in fewer vehicles receiving full or partial exemptions, but the requirements are annoying. Then there are federal income tax credits for the installation of qualifying heat pumps – but whatever efficiency levels qualify? Don’t despair – a former US Vice President would love to help you crawl through the federal mud and take advantage of the IRA’s full potential.
Al Gore is known as one of the world’s most prominent climate activists. He said in an interview with Inside Climate news that the IRA – even with some gaps, shortcomings and confusing elements – “is still by far the biggest and best climate legislation ever enacted by any country”.
He adds that, after many years of legislative struggles, “this is the kind of result to be celebrated.” By means of look forward to something rather than backing down and building “on the massive success that the legislation actually provides,” Gore says that both the IRA and the infrastructure bill’s climate provisions “will translate into significant climate action as soon as possible.”
The Biden-Harris administration’s groundbreaking climate legislation can usher in large-scale solar, wind, nuclear, carbon capture and other alternatives to fossil fuels. It can make it easier for companies to switch through discounts or tax credits. Homeowners can invest in upgrades, such as electric vehicles, electric heaters, heat pumps, up-to-date electrical panels, or energy-efficient windows.
There’s only one problem. In their own words, one third of the registered voters I heard “nothing at all” about the climate bill, which was combined with drug-focused and other spending within the IRA signed into law in August, according to a Yale Project on Climate Change Communications poll conducted in December. Another 24% heard “a little” and 29% heard “a little” about the law.
The former US vice president pushes for climate reality
For more than 40 years, former US Vice President Al Gore has been at the forefront of the movement to solve the global climate crisis. A longtime public servant, US Vice President Gore prioritized the climate crisis and its solutions throughout his career as a US Congressman, Senator and Vice President.
As U.S. Vice President, Gore encouraged the development of low-carbon technologies through the Climate Change Technology Initiative and the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles to replace the internal combustion engine. In an effort to improve environmental education worldwide and encourage action, the US Vice President created the GLOBE program, which continues to promote environmental awareness among children in schools across the country.
Gore is a founder and president of Generation Investment Management. An activist who has struck the right balance between sounding the alarm about the climate crisis and preventing people from being plunged into despair, Gore has long focused on justified optimism. He believes that technological trends have promoted progress in many political systems, nations, cities, provinces and states.
His optimism aside, the IRA climate legislation continues to confuse many people.
Enter the Climate Reality Project; the former US vice president is the founder and chairman. The nonprofit is committed to solving the climate crisis and is now offering online training that is open to the public to help people take advantage of the IRA’s clean energy provisions. The Climate Reality Leadership Corps was born out of the belief that ordinary people can lead the fight against climate and change the world together. The program began in 2006, when 50 aspiring lawyers joined Vice President Gore in his Nashville, Tennessee, shed to learn how to share the truth about the climate crisis, just as he had done in the Academy Award-winning movie, An inconvenient truth.
Two decades later, that 50 has grown to more than 45,000 advocates working together for just climate solutions across sectors and continents.
A session like the “Power-up training: from act to actiongives participants the tools, training and network they need to be informed climate emissaries. It focuses on the US and outlines specific ways individuals, communities, businesses, NGOs and others can benefit from the significant new resources And possibilities provided for in this law. In this way, there will be a minimal delay between the entry into force of the law and the beneficial effects of the law.
By following such a training, which starts in April, participants will:
- Gain a better understanding of the climate crisis and how we can solve it from facilitators like Vice President Gore and world-renowned scientists, activists, innovators and policymakers;
- Work with leading organizers and experts to become an effective advocate and leader equipped with the skills to influence decision makers, shape public opinion, mobilize your community and more;
- Learn about the relationship between the climate crisis and environmental justice issues ranging from air pollution to loss and damage;
- Connect with Climate Reality Leaders and join a global community of advocates just like themselves; And,
- Network with individuals and organizations leading solutions to the greatest challenge of our time.
Gore describes these trainings as providing very accurate, very useful information that will be available to as many people as are interested in using it.
Training areas include:
- Up-to-date, factual information about the climate crisis, its causes and solutions;
- Specific skills in areas such as communication and persuasiveness and organizing at a basic level;
- Connect participants to networks of like-minded individuals;
- Take advantage of the tax credits, the other incentives, the corresponding subsidies and all the various provisions of the law; And,
- Learn about the details: solar, wind, communal solar, EV charging stations, retrofitting, heat pumps, more insulation, better windows and more.
“One of the analyzes says that for every increased ton of emissions coming from the facilities [supporting traditional energy] that people like me don’t like in this legislation,” Gore admitted, “there are 28 tons of emissions reductions [within other initiatives in the bill]. And in a representative democracy, where compromise is almost always essential to get a big result, that’s a pretty good ratio of compromise.”
I don’t like paywalls. You don’t like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a restricted paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong – and it was always hard to decide what to put behind that. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then less people will read it! We just don’t like paywalls so we decided to drop ours.
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