Last Friday marked the two-year anniversary of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, a milestone for Ohioans seeking to make their buildings and homes more energy efficient.

IRA tax credits provided crucial financial incentives, and some Ohioans, both homeowners and businesses, took advantage of them.

But Marcus Hazelwood, head of building optimisation at EA Energy Solutions, says not everyone is aware that the initial costs of energy efficient upgrades can be offset through tax deductions, so it’s important to spread the word, especially among business owners.

“We help them understand that they can use their existing infrastructure to find a source of financing and capital to improve their buildings – which in the long run lowers their operating costs,” Hazelwood said. “That kind of supports the initial capital that’s needed.”

Ohio’s new energy law simplifies IRA tax deduction eligibility and, supporters say, also promotes economic growth by securing well-paying local jobs.

However, critics of the IRA say the costs are too high and the program does not help reduce the costs of energy-efficient products and services.

Ben Evans, director of federal legislation at the U.S. Green Building Council, said the IRA not only focuses on businesses but also offers benefits to individual property owners.

He explained that the variety of tax incentives, grants and affordable financing options allows homeowners to maximize their savings and make meaningful improvements to their property.

“And the beauty of the inflation mitigation act is that you can combine many of them,” Evans said. “You don’t have to choose just one. You can get several different tax incentives for the same project. Let’s say you renovate a building and also put a solar system on the roof. You can get tax incentives for both.”

The IRA consists of several programs to increase energy efficiency, such as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

Evans said Ohio is well positioned to take a leadership role in this area and people have plenty of time over the next decade to take advantage of these incentives.

Get more stories like this by email

The Inflation Reduction Act turns two years old today, and one expert believes its impact in the state of Nevada has been significant.

Shannon Heyck-Williams, assistant vice president for climate and energy at the National Wildlife Federation, said the legislation has spurred the growth of the clean energy economy in the Silver State and across the country. She added that the benefits enabled by the law have led to the creation of thousands of jobs and unlocked billions of dollars in private investment at the state level.

“A large part of this growth is due to the development of renewable energy,” emphasized Heyck-Williams. “In Nevada, solar energy in particular is experiencing a major boom and is bringing clean energy to the state and its residents.”

She noted that the transition to electric vehicles is also gaining momentum, and that the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill include investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. According to PlugShare, there are nearly 2,200 charging stations across Nevada. With transportation being the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, Heyck-Williams stressed that investing in infrastructure is critical.

The cost of climate action, estimated at around $730 billion, has come under fire for exceeding initial expectations, but the Center for American Progress argues that savings from the legislation over the next decade will exceed the cost.

Heyck-Williams said the law also helps reduce the economic burden of energy efficiency improvements on homes and businesses.

“This includes loans that allow homeowners to upgrade their household appliances,” explained Heyck-Williams. “So that they can finally afford a new electric car and replace their children’s dirty school buses with clean electric school buses.”

Heyck-Williams stressed that climate change is already here and poses a serious problem for Nevada communities. She believes the federal government’s major investments are crucial tools for a cleaner future.

“If implemented as planned, they should reduce these emissions by about 40%,” reported Heyck-Williams. “This is significant and puts us on track to actually achieve the goal of net zero emissions by mid-century.”

Get more stories like this by email

Pittsburgh is emerging as a leader in innovative solutions like electric vehicles and clean energy to combat the climate crisis. The group Elected Officials to Protect America says electric vehicle registrations are up about 82% in 2022 compared to the previous year.

Democratic Rep. Emily Kinkead of Allegheny County sees Pittsburgh as a future leader in the green economy, supported by strong unions and academic institutions.

“Whether it’s solar power for schools, sealing oil wells, or a number of other things that are moving us away from fossil fuels and toward electric vehicles, moving away from fossil fuels is a great way to make sure we’re protecting our citizens now,” she explained.

The state is leveraging funding from sources such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which calls for a historic $370 billion investment to combat climate change over the next decade. Pennsylvania’s goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 is the same goal President Joe Biden has set for the nation.

Pittsburgh City Council member Erika Strassburger said the biggest benefit of the Anti-Inflation Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill – especially in Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh – is that they have created many jobs.

“You don’t have to go far from Pittsburgh to the Mon Valley to see 600 new jobs in a battery factory that will help electrify our vehicles and our systems. And those are jobs that would not have been created without these federal investments,” she explained.

Strassburger noted that federal funding will allow Pittsburgh to invest $15 million in electric vehicles for its city fleet, adding that the switch will save energy, reduce gasoline consumption and ultimately save taxpayer money in the long run.

“If we can scale that up, and that’s our intention, to reduce energy costs – starting with 100 residents of the city of Pittsburgh by the end of this year and then over the course of the next six years for 10,000 residents across the region – that means the biggest benefit we see is that people will have to pay less of their paycheck for energy,” she continued.

In Pennsylvania, the number of electric car purchases has increased significantly. At the beginning of this year, more than 47,000 electric cars were registered in the state.

Get more stories like this by email

Iowa has thousands of fewer square miles than Nebraska, but has nearly 3,000 more concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Opponents of the massive facilities argue there are enough of them. The rise of CAFOs across the country has fueled opposition from local residents as well as environmental and animal rights groups.

In Iowa, a grassroots group has blocked the construction of about 100 of these plants. Barb Kalbach, president of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, attributes much of Iowa’s poor water quality to runoff from animal waste that is spread on fields along with commercial fertilizer. Kalbach believes that Nebraska’s rural communities should also oppose such developments.

“The manure has to go somewhere,” Kalbach stressed. “The question is not, ‘Should I dump it on the ground or not?’ It has to go. They have to empty the pit and then it gets taken away. And if there are any water problems, people have to act immediately.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes animal manure as “a major source of nitrogen and phosphorus in surface and groundwater.” Approximately 20 percent of public water supplies and private wells in Nebraska have nitrate and nitrogen levels higher than recommended.

Jonathan Leo, a Nebraska environmental and land use attorney, said CAFO owners typically contract with local farmers to use the animal waste. He noted that for the largest operations, a methane digestion system is essential because of the enormous amount of waste generated.

“It breaks down manure into methane, a major greenhouse gas, which is sold to third parties as an energy source,” Leo explained. “And digestate, which is sold to farmers off-farm as a nutrient additive for the soil.”

Leo and others helped residents of a small Nebraska town block an Iowa producer from opening a large-scale facility that would house more than 6,000 hogs. Leo noted that many of the opponents were farmers themselves.

“We worked with them on how to organize and understand their county’s ordinance on CAFO permits,” Leo said. “And they appeared before their county council and planning commission in a way that made their own bosses say, ‘We’ve never seen this kind of citizen activism before.'”

The failed operation would have taken place about a half-mile uphill from a creek that feeds a lake in a state recreation area used for swimming, boating and fishing.

As a result of a lawsuit filed by Food and Water Watch, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has now agreed to investigate the environmental impacts of CAFOs after years of pressure to do so.

Get more stories like this by email