Building healthier schools is within reach. Up to half the cost of a clean energy project at your school could be refunded to the district under the federal Inflation Reduction Act. Tax-exempt entities such as public schools can receive “direct pay” (also known as “elective pay”). In simple terms, direct pay lets school districts recoup a significant portion of a clean energy project’s cost as a cash payment from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

All sectors of society must take action to reduce emissions to limit the disastrous impacts climate change is causing our communities and part of the pathway to limiting warming will include carbon management technologies. We can rapidly reduce emissions and simultaneously develop and deploy responsible carbon management and we must do both. 

Oregon State Governor Tina Kotek signed House Bill 3332 into law at an event today, reinforcing Oregon’s commitment to local industries and cleaner infrastructure by championing domestically-produced iron and steel in public projects. The new law includes a grant initiative to support small businesses as they work to meet Oregon’s strong domestic production benchmarks.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced $100 million in grants to help manufacturers track and disclose the emissions associated with the production of materials and products used in infrastructure projects. This will help private and public sector purchasers know which materials are made in the most climate-friendly way.

Today the BlueGreen Alliance hosted a webinar called “Game Changer: The Inflation Reduction Act and Clean Manufacturing.” Government officials, union representatives, environmental experts, industry representatives, and others across the U.S. heard leading climate and labor experts discuss the Inflation Reduction Act and its promise to revitalize industrial manufacturing.  

The new report from the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst estimates that the combined investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Inflation Reduction Act, and CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS) will support nearly 3 million jobs per year and 19 million job-years over their lifetime.

The BlueGreen Alliance (BGA) commented in support of the U.S. Department of Labor Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed standard on Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection

This Labor Day, we sit at a pivotal moment for our nation. As urgency grows to reduce emissions and clean up our air and water, we need to consider the lack of foresight that brought us to this point and move forward in a smarter way.

One year ago today, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, putting the nation on a path to clean up the nation’s air and water and reduce greenhouse gas emissions up to 42% by 2030. Over the last year, the law has already begun to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, grow clean energy, and support and create good union jobs across the country.

Last year, fueled by a desire to buck the status quo that has chipped away at workers’ health, safety, and rights for too long, the BlueGreen Alliance advocated tirelessly for a historic climate and jobs bill. We called for a bill based on the core tenet that the clean economy should work for working people, while protecting the environment and people’s health. It should also create good-paying, accessible jobs for all.

Just one year after being signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act is helping to build a clean economy that does all that. If it is implemented correctly and the jobs created are good, safe, union jobs for all workers.

Today the BlueGreen Alliance released a new visualization of hard-hit areas across the United States that stand to benefit from the investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and CHIPS and Science Act. The map highlights communities impacted by the decline of domestic industrial manufacturing, the energy transition, and disproportionate environmental, economic, and health burdens.

Our newest map highlights the opportunity for strong equity and labor standards to equip hard-hit communities to translate the investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act into higher-paying jobs, cleaner air, improved health, and stronger local economies.