A surprise congressional budget deal announced Wednesday night boasts $370 billion in new spending for tackling climate change, including oodles of tax credits and rebates that could make it cheaper for people looking to drive and live more sustainably.
“This bill is going to open up a lot of avenues for Americans to contribute to the fight against climate change on an individual level,” said Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, in an emailed statement. “Through a mix of rebates for electric appliances and efficiency retrofits and tax credits for technologies like heat pumps … it’s going to become a lot more affordable to do your part.”
Called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the proposed tax, health and climate package was negotiated by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin. Just two weeks ago, the prospect of such a deal seemed doomed when Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, said he wouldn’t support the climate provisions amid rising inflation.
