The nation’s largest piece of climate legislation turned two years old this week, and a few things are certain: The Inflation Reduction Act has spurred far more investment in clean energy than first estimated, and it is likely going to cost the government at least double — and possibly triple — what original estimates said it would.
Why the $1 trillion in budgetary costs over the next 10 years? Because the policy is popular with businesses and consumers, and there’s a lot of demand for the uncapped financial incentives the law provides for clean energy production and electric vehicles. U.S. taxpayers are paying less and the government is paying taxpayers more to adopt cleaner practices.
The law is the primary driver behind $493 billion in business and consumer clean investment over the first two years of the legislation’s existence, an increase of 71% from before the bill was enacted, according to an August report from the Clean Investment Monitor.