Action leads to Hope

 

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PROGRESS
The Inflation Reduction Act (I.R.A), created by Joe Biden shortly after his inauguration and despite having been operational since August 2022,  has received relatively little press coverage in relation to its significance. A report by Lori Lodes’s Climate Power reveals that new manufacturing in wind, solar, batteries, electric vehicles, and storage projects across America means companies have announced or moved forward with projects accounting for more than 271,713 new clean energy jobs for electricians, mechanics, construction workers, technicians, support staff, and many others. 
     In the small town of  Turtle Creek in Pennsylvania, USA things are changing rapidly. In a recent Press briefing  from COVERING CLIMATE NOW Lori Lodes, co-founder of Climate Power, talks about the changes,  ‘When Westinghouse Steel shut down, Turtle Creek shut down with it. The high school closed. Main street was boarded up. The community was not able to find jobs there. But since a battery company, Eos came in and because of what the Inflation Reduction Act has done by creating that certainty, EOS are hiring over 1,000 people. And that is not just about those jobs it’s that multiplier effect. It’s the mom and pop shops, it’s the diners that are able to come back because people are not only going to work, but they’re spending money in their communities again.’

       
NEW GREEN DEAL
The Inflation Reduction Act is an update of an illustrious precedent in Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal which reinvigorated the American Economy in the Great Depression. From  the early 2000’s onwards ideas about creating a New Green Deal based on moving away from non-renewable energy were circulating in America and Europe. After Greta Thunberg began her school strikes to tackle climate action, she was joined by millions of young people around the world. In America a political action group The Sunrise Movement started to lobby the Democrat Party to include elements of a New Green Deal.  
       In the democratic primaries for presidency in 2020 Joe Biden lagged behind some of the other candidates but when he eventually won the nomination, he started listening and encouraging young climate activists to come forward with ideas. When the Inflation Reduction Act was eventually launched it was a version of the New Green Deal in all but name but Biden framed it in terms of jobs, investments and economic growth. 
       The influence of ordinary people banding together to lobby politicians was a big factor in the Inflation Reduction Act’s creation and its continuing success. People were getting good paying, long lasting jobs and businessmen were realizing the opportunities of getting involved in developing renewable energies. As one of the strongest economies  in the world, America frequently acts as a role model for other countries, so there is strong possibility that the idea of a New  Green Deal will  spread to others. 

 

HURDLE
Yet, when questioned on his continuing approval for oil and gas permits, Biden said, ‘I would transition from the oil industry. Yes. It has to be replaced by renewable energy — over time. Over time.’ In fact, he approved 9,779 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands in his first three years as President.  Lobbying groups need to face him with fact that the continuing extract and burning of fossil fuels will result in catastrophic increase in temperatures and he needs to keep the focus on investment in renewable sources of energy. We also need to beware of Project 2025, a collection of policy proposals to reshape the federal government in the event of a Republican victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. 
Amongst other things it would gut environmental and climate change regulations in favour of fossil fuel production.  Many contributors have close ties to Donald Trump, who in his first term as president took us out of the Paris Agreement. 

 

INSPIRATIONAL GUIDES TO THE FUTURE
In 2009 Christiana Figueres was appointed executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to lead the next round of international climate change negotiations. In her first press conference she was  asked if she thought a climate change agreement was possible. Her response: “Not in my lifetime.” Afterwards she was horrified by her own response. She said, ‘Impossible is not a fact, it’s an attitude and I decided, right then and there, that I was going to change my attitude.’ Over six years, she made it happen for herself and the rest of the world. In 2015 in Paris 195 governments came together and decided, unanimously, to change the course of the global economy in order to protect the earth and improve the quality of life for all of.  Christiana labels herself as a Stubborn Optimist.

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 As Obama’s Secretary of State, John Kerry signed the Paris Accord for the US and was made Climate Envoy by Joe Biden. He has just resigned the latter office to campaign directly for Climate Change. In an interview with the New Yorker Kerry suggested that,  “In Dubai,(at COP28) a hundred and ninety-five countries signed off on an operative paragraph that goes way beyond Paris to wit, that we must transition “away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly, equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade in keeping with the science,” and according to the science means 1.5 degrees. It’s up to us. We have created a framework which could allow us to win. Every major movement that I have ever seen or been part of has always been inspired by young people. We need young folks raising hell, as they are. I mean, Greta Thunberg and people who have been out there, and I think it’s had an impact. Some people are saying, Oh, God, I know it’s not going to make a difference, that the other guys are too big. They’re not. You can beat the money. You can beat it with people knocking on doors, getting people to do things. That still works. And we need more of it.’

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​Greta Thunberg was seriously ill as a child as a reaction to people’s indifference to climate change. It was only when she started her school strike to draw people’s attention to the problem that she became well. She said, ‘The one thing we need more than hope is action. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then, and only then, hope will come.’

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