Celebrating One Year of the Inflation Reduction Act!

By Peter Aronson

Break out the streamers, it’s time to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the biggest, boldest action our  nation has ever taken on climate! To mark the occasion, the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (NYLCVEF) will hold an event at the Albany Public Library with Congressman Paul Tonko on August 16 – exactly one year after President Biden signed the historic legislation – to inform the community about how the IRA’s climate provisions will help us chart a greener and more sustainable future.

[If you’d like to attend the Albany event and learn more about these transformative policies to protect our climate, including major tax benefits and other rebates, RSVP and submit your questions here.]

This event is a continuation of the League’s efforts over the past two years. First, NYLCVEFs sister organization, NYLCV, advocated strongly for the IRA’s passage as well as that of its previous iteration, Build Back Better. And once it did pass, NYLCVEF sprung into action to educate New Yorkers about the importance of the measure to the environment and also about the resources available to consumers, businesses, and local governments. 

“It is, at its heart, an affordable clean energy plan that will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, clean our air, and lower our utility bills,” NYLCV/EF President Julie Tighe wrote with Congressman Brian Higgins, in their joint op-ed in The Buffalo News.

Last fall, Tighe was one of the environmental advocates invited to the White House to celebrate its passage. 

See the picture here!

The $369 billion earmarked for climate and energy programs is the nation’s largest-ever investment in our fight against climate change, providing funding to reduce carbon emissions in every sector of the economy.

NYLCV/EF has written extensively about the law, including an article detailing the national scope of its environmental programs, and the League is working with federal, state, and local officials to spread the word about the benefits of the law, since many people are still unaware of the tax credits and rebates for individuals, businesses, non-profits, and governments to decarbonize their buildings and transportation. 

Tighe has penned three joint op-eds, written with Congressman Higgins (The Buffalo News), Congresswoman Grace Meng (qns.org), and former Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (USA TODAY Network) highlighted programs such as:

• $1.5 billion for urban forests and $2.6 billion for coastal resiliency, both designed to reduce flooding. (This was highlighted for Queens residents, because the community was still recovering from the devastating floods caused by Hurricane Ida.);
• Tax rebates available for New York families, including $840 for a new clothes dryer, electric stove or oven; $1,750 for a water heater; $8,000 for an air heat pump; 30 percent of the cost to install solar panels; and $7,500 for a new electric car and $4,000 for a used electric car; 
• Tax rebates for home energy retrofitting for middle- and low-income households, including $1,600 for insulation, up to $600 for windows and $2,500 for electric wiring; and
• Funds to electrify our school bus fleet.     

Tighe also joined Congressman Jamaal Bowman and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke in New Rochelle and Brooklyn, respectively, for town hall meetings on the IRA, similar to the one taking place in Albany this week.

Another way the League has reached the public with this critical–and money-saving–information has been through a series of webinars led by Federal Campaign Manager Matthew Salton, sometimes held in collaboration with our LCV counterparts in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey. 

NYLCVEF also put together a set of New York IRA Consumer Benefits Guides so people understand exactly what they are eligible for under the IRA. There is an overview guide and a series of guides that focus on specific benefits, like:

• The Energy Efficiency Home Improvement Credit

• Utilities benefits by region

• Clean vehicle credits

• Funds for farmers

• The Residential Clean Energy Tax Credit

• The HOMES Rebate Program

• The High Efficiency Electric Home Rebate Program

• State and city incentives

• Electric vehicle and infrastructure credits and rebates

As we celebrate this anniversary together, NYLCV/EF looks forward to entering year two of this historic moment in environmental policy and remains committed to ensuring the public is informed about the available benefits.