Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act came decades too late to stop climate change impacts this century. What now?

In October, Nigeria, with over 600 dead and close to 1.5 million displaced, joined a growing list of nations, including Pakistan, Thailand, and Australia, that have recently experienced unprecedented flooding linked to climate change. 

Floods, droughts, wildfires, heat waves, and hurricanes like Fiona and Ian are happening more frequently and intensely, and the cumulative impacts are becoming more devastating. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in late summer, a political miracle occurred, as just weeks earlier virtually no one thought such a sweeping and comprehensive climate bill would make it to President Biden’s desk. This new law, in conjunction with climate spending in last year’s bipartisan infrastructure act and the CHIPS and Science Act, put the United States on track to become a world leader in efforts to decarbonize the global economy.

Read more of David Helvarg and Jason Scorse’s article in the Progressive.