Happy Friday everyone!  In today's edition, we are going to be covering the Biden administration's newest piece of legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act - be sure to click the link to our blog to read the full piece, including how it will directly affect you. Next up we have our headlines from this past month, including a 10-inch nightmare in Greenland as well as a nightmare for your sleep habits. Last but certainly not least we have our education section where we will be rounding out the 20th century of environmental policy! Enjoy the read!

On the water, Thousand Islands, Canada / Image courtesy of Nick Moore

Inflation Reduction Act

Happy September to all those reading ClimateRoots this morning; may this month bless you with less sweat! In lieu of our traditional featured writer section for this month, we are going to be giving a rundown of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 16th. I am sure that many of you heard or read something about this bill as it made its way through congress to the oval office, but my goal here is to break it down into digestible pieces of information to make it easier to comprehend why it is such a big deal. If you are curious what the Inflation Reduction Act means for the climate, individuals and industry, keep on reading on!

The Inflation Reduction Act was first proposed by Senators Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin at the end of July (Freedman). After undergoing some minor revisions in congress that mostly focused on how to pay for the bill, it became clear that the bill was going to fall on Biden’s desk and receive his signature (Sinema Will Move Forward with Senate Democrats’ Climate, Health and Tax Bill : NPR). Regardless of how we got here, the bottom line is that the Inflation Reduction Act includes $369 Billion in funding for clean energy and climate. Estimates have shown that these inclusions could reduce the US carbon footprint by 40% in 2030 compared to 2005 levels (Mahajan et al.). This is a staggering number and has the potential to put the US within reach (albeit not on track) of its Paris Accord pledge. It is expected that by 2030 the act will create at least 1.5 million jobs and reduce household electric bills by hundreds of dollars a year, all while preventing thousands of premature deaths, asthma attacks and lost workdays (Democrats’ Climate Deal Puts U.S. Emissions Goals In Reach, 3 Separate Studies Show | HuffPost Latest News). Additionally, wording in the act gives the EPA direct ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, overturning a previous Supreme Court ruling (Democrats Designed the Climate Law to Be a Game Changer. Here’s How. - The New York Times). An analysis by the White House is estimating that by spending the $369 billion, the US could avoid as much as $1.9 trillion in climate impacts by 2050 (Reidmiller et al.). I’d say that’s a pretty good return on investment! This is by far the largest domestic effort to curb the impacts of Climate Change, and could induce a dramatic international response.

Click below to read the full piece about the IRA on our blog.

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Monthly Headlines

Research Shows it’s Already Too Late to Save Greenland’s Ice (Associated Press, Atmos, Axios, NPR)

• Even under a best-case scenario, more than 120 trillions tons of ice is going to melt, resulting directly in at least 10 inches of sea level rise, new research has concluded.

• This total is much greater than previous estimates, since new data and changing conditions on the ice sheet are occurring rapidly.

• This finding comes on the heels of a publication showing that the Arctic is even more susceptible to Climate Change than previously thought and is warming up to 7 times faster than the rest of the planet.

Biden Administration Passes the Inflation Reduction Act (Associated Press, Canary Media, NPR)

• The month of August saw the Inflation Reduction Act, initially proposed by Joe Manchin, pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate before being signed by President Biden.

• It includes $375 billion to fight Climate Change, representing the largest federal investment towards climate in the country’s history.

• Many are hoping that it induces a redoubled worldwide effort to curb the effects of Climate Change.

• For more details on the Inflation Reduction Act, check out this week’s featured writer blog!

California, Massachusetts make Climate Commitments (Boston Globe, NBC Boston, WBUR, Boston Globe, Reuters, CalMatters)

• Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed a broad climate legislature this month, which will help fund investments in the state’s energy sector.

• Notably included is a pilot program that will allow ten cities and towns to ban new fossil fuel infrastructure.

• Meanwhile, California has announced a plan to prepare for a future with 10 percent less water in 2040, focusing on water capture and reuse.

• California has also banned all the future sales of gas powered vehicles by 2035, which includes incremental benchmarks to monitor progress toward the goal.

• Massachusetts and Virginia are following in the footsteps and taking similar actions.

Having Trouble Sleeping in the Heat? You’re not Alone. (Lancet Planetary Health, NPR, The Hill, Independent)

• Researchers investigating the impact of hotter nights on human health have found that rising nighttime temperatures could drastically increase global mortality rate.

• Warming night temperatures disrupt natural body functions, which can lead to adverse immune response and many chronic illnesses.

• By the end of the century, mortality rates could increase as much as 60 percent, disproportionately impacting low income populations.

To read more headlines from this week, click below.

Nick with friends on Mt Moosilauke / Image Courtesy of Nick Moore

Environmental Policy 1995-2000

Happy end of summer! Whether you’re back to school or just ready for some cooler weather, we hope you’re as excited for September as we are. This issue, we are rounding out our coverage of 20th century federal environmental policy with a focus on 1995-2000! Though this is just a snapshot of some of the policies and orders passed in these years, you can see a growing emphasis surrounding environmental exposures, particularly in children and other vulnerable communities. 

1996- Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA)

Unanimously passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton, the  Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) was designed to “... tighten standards for pesticides used to grow food, with special protections to ensure that foods are safe for children to eat” (OA US EPA, Milestones in EPA and Environmental History). In addition to setting regulations regarding pesticide residue on food, the EPA created methods of better assessing pesticide risk for ‘real life situations’ like exposure through drinking water or through residential exposure (OP US EPA). According to the EPA website, “Using these newly-developed methodologies, EPA completed the reassessment of the 9,721 pesticide tolerances” and revoked or modified the acceptable tolerance level of 4,000 of them (OP US EPA). 

1997- Protection for Children Against Environmental Risks

Via executive order, President Bill Clinton required all federal agencies to maintain, “... a high priority to addressing health and safety risks to children, coordinate research priorities on children's health, and ensure that their standards take into account special risks to children” (OA US EPA, History of Children’s Environmental Health Protection at EPA). This order lead the EPA to create the Office of Children's Health Protection, which in its 25 years of operation, has done major works including increasing the environmental literacy of healthcare providers and communicating environmental contaminants that can lead to childhood disease with the public (OA US EPA, About the Office of Children’s Health Protection (OCHP)). 

2000- Pesticide Ban

In line with testing requirements established in the Food Quality Protection Act, EPA Commissioner Browner announced a total ban on the manufacturing and use of the pesticide Chlorpyrifos, commercially known as Dursban, which at the time was one of the the most widely used household pesticide in the United States (OA US EPA, Dursban Announcement). The primary concern with Chlorpyrifos was the way it interacted with the nervous system, after studies found that it caused fetal brain damage in rats (“EPA To Ban Common Pesticide”). 

Join us next month for our coverage of policies from 2001-2005!

To read this full piece with works cited, check it out on our blog!

Sunset on Pine Island looking over the Great Salt Marsh  / Image Courtesy of  Nick Moore

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