Environmental advocates are heralding added jobs and ecosystem protections funded through the Inflation Reduction Act, which just marked its two-year anniversary.
Critics of the legislation say costs are much higher than the original price tag.
But supporters of the IRA say the investments are having a positive impact on the environment – and on local economies.
Shannon Heyck-Williams – associate vice president for climate and energy at the National Wildlife Federation – said along with the Bipartisan Infrastructure law, the legislation has created more than 100,000 clean energy jobs across the West.
“For example,” said Heyck-Williams, “in Montana, where wind energy has great potential, this bill would actually invest in new sources of clean wind energy to replace dirty fossil fuels.”
Montana has about 1,800 megawatts of wind power-generating capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, with more coming online next year.
Critics of the IRA have said its lack of spending caps mean it could cost taxpayers more than the often-cited $800 million price tag.
Heyck-Williams said these investments are important because they not only create jobs and spur local and regional economies, but they take on the growing effects of climate change, which Montanans are already noticing.
“If they’re implemented as planned, they should reduce those emissions by about 40%, which is significant,” said Heyck-Williams. “It puts us in the direction that we need to go to actually get to a mid-century goal of net zero emissions.”
In addition to clean energy jobs and electric vehicle infrastructure, the IRA also allocates $4.5 billion to drought mitigation efforts in the West.
