After 18 months of negotiations, it was Vice President Kamala Harris' vote that would determine the outcome of the bill in the US Senate. The vote was 51-50, making it clear that the US is making the biggest green investment ever a reality.
Environmental measures account for the bulk of the reform package and the estimated cost of $370 billion will be spent on reducing emissions, mainly in the energy and automotive sectors. Tax breaks will make it easier to invest in solar energy, electric vehicles and their charging infrastructure, energy storage and wind power, among other things. This is reported in Dagens Industri today.
- By driving down the cost of clean energy, it could make it easier for states and cities to take additional climate action on their own, Jesse Jenkins of Princeton told The New York Times, according to DI.
One concrete measure is to combat the drought in the western United States, which has affected 40 million Americans. USD 4 billion will be spent on measures to protect drinking water in Arizona, Nevada and Colorado.
According to Princeton University, the reform could mean a billion tonnes less carbon dioxide emissions each year by the end of this decade. That would account for about two-thirds of the country's goal of halving emissions from 2005 levels.
