EcoWatch
Facebook 568k Twitter 233k Instagram 41k Subscribe Subscribe
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Conservation
  • Food + Agriculture
  • Renewables
  • Oceans
  • Policy
  • Insights + Opinion
  • Go Solar Today
      • Top Companies By State
        • California Solar Companies
        • Texas Solar Companies
        • New York Solar Companies
        • Florida Solar Companies
        • See All States
      • Top Incentives By State
        • California Solar Incentives
        • Texas Solar Incentives
        • New York Solar Incentives
        • Florida Solar Incentives
        • See All States
      • Solar Panel Costs By State
        • Solar Panel Costs in California
        • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
        • Solar Panel Costs in New York
        • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
        • See All States
      • Value of Solar by State
        • Is Solar Worth It In California?
        • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
        • Is Solar Worth It New York?
        • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
        • See All States
      • Company Reviews
        • Tesla Solar Review
        • Sunrun Solar Review
        • SunPower Solar Review
        • Vivint Solar Review
        • See All Companies
      • Common Solar Questions
        • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
        • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
        • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
        • Can You Finance Solar?
        • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
        • Payback On Solar Panels?
      • Solar Resources
        • Interactive Solar Calculator
        • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
        • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
        • Tesla Solar Roof Review
        • Cheapest Solar Panels
      • Companies Compared
        • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs SunPower
        • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
        • SunPower vs ADT Solar
EcoWatch
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Conservation
  • Food + Agriculture
  • Renewables
  • Oceans
  • Policy
  • Insights + Opinion
  • Go Solar Today
    • Go Solar Today
    • Top Companies By State
      • California Solar Companies
      • Texas Solar Companies
      • New York Solar Companies
      • Florida Solar Companies
      • See All States
    • Top Incentives By State
      • California Solar Incentives
      • Texas Solar Incentives
      • New York Solar Incentives
      • Florida Solar Incentives
      • See All States
    • Solar Panel Costs By State
      • Solar Panel Costs in California
      • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
      • Solar Panel Costs in New York
      • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
      • See All States
    • Value of Solar by State
      • Is Solar Worth It In California?
      • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
      • Is Solar Worth It New York?
      • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
      • See All States
    • Company Reviews
      • Tesla Solar Review
      • Sunrun Solar Review
      • SunPower Solar Review
      • Vivint Solar Review
      • See All Companies
    • Common Solar Questions
      • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
      • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
      • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
      • Can You Finance Solar?
      • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
      • Payback On Solar Panels?
    • Solar Resources
      • Interactive Solar Calculator
      • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
      • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
      • Tesla Solar Roof Review
      • Cheapest Solar Panels
    • Companies Compared
      • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs SunPower
      • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
      • SunPower vs ADT Solar

The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 568k Twitter 233k Instagram 41k
    EcoWatch
    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 568k Twitter 233k Instagram 41k
    Home Policy

    Carbon Emissions Reduction Rate in U.S. Has Doubled Since Passage of Inflation Reduction Act, Report Finds

    By: Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
    Published: April 4, 2024
    Edited by Chris McDermott
    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon
    A worker installs solar panels on a 4-acre solar rooftop at AltaSea's research and development facility at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California
    A worker installs solar panels on a 4-acre solar rooftop at AltaSea's research and development facility at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California on April 21, 2023. Mario Tama / Getty Images
    Why you can trust us

    Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

    The rate of carbon emissions cuts in the United States has doubled since the passage of President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), according to a new report by Clean Investment Monitor.

    Since the IRA was passed in 2022, more than 80 wind, solar and energy storage projects have made use of the law’s tax credits and direct payments, reported Reuters.

    “Clean energy and transportation investment in the US set another record in Q4 of 2023, reaching $67 billion — a 40% increase from the same period in 2022. Clean investment now accounts for 5% of all private investment in structures, equipment, and durable consumer goods in the United States, up from 3.7% at the end of 2022,” a press release from Clean Investment Monitor said.

    Together, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the IRA supplied $239 billion for electric vehicles (EVs), green energy, carbon management and electricity for buildings in the U.S. last year — a 38 percent increase from 2022, the report said, as Reuters reported.

    “Retail investment accounted for nearly half of this total, driven by robust growth in electric vehicle sales (a 52% increase year-on-year). Investment in the deployment of utility-scale solar and storage systems also grew robustly over 2023, up more than 50% year-on-year to $53 billion,” the report said. “But the fastest investment growth last year occurred in the deployment of emerging climate technologies — up ten-fold from $0.9 billion in 2022 to $9.1 billion in 2023 — and in the manufacturing of clean technology, up 153% from $19 billion in 2022 to $49 billion in 2023.”

    More From EcoWatch
    • Solar Tax Credit Calculator – Inflation Reduction Act
    • Are Solar Panels Worth It for Your Home?
    • What Is the Federal Solar Tax Credit (ITC)?

    According to experts, much more will need to be done to reach net-zero by 2050.

    “The IRA doubles the pace of reductions but should have tripled it to hit our 2030 climate goals and get on the path to net-zero by 2050,” said Jesse Jenkins, who participated in the study and is an energy systems engineer with Princeton University’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, as reported by Reuters.

    The report was a collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and independent researcher Rhodium Group.

    Asian and European companies were motivated by the IRA to increase their investments in the U.S., which led Europe to develop its Green Deal Industrial Plan.

    Challenges to implementation of the IRA in some sectors have included state and local regulations hampering the development of transmission lines to connect renewable energy projects to the grid and the pace of expansion of EV charging stations.

    Jigar Shah, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s loan programs office, said the IRA has been slow to encourage some projects like carbon sequestration, hydrogen, geothermal and nuclear energy.

    Last month in Houston, Shah commented that the sectors “continue to struggle around figuring out how exactly to put all the pieces together,” as Reuters reported.

    Oil companies have complained that projects like oil well carbon capture and hydrogen plants have faced regulatory hurdles, said Roman Kramarchuk, who is in charge of climate markets and policy analytics at S&P Global Commodity Insights.

    Kramarchuk added that another wave of development would happen when there was “more certainty” concerning financing and “what it takes to get a deal done.”

    The IRA has contributed to a reduction in U.S. carbon emissions of four percent annually — twice the pace of the year before passage of the law — according to an article published last year by researchers from across the country.

    “We estimate a total of $34 billion in federal investment — including tax credits, grants, and the fiscal cost of government loans — went to clean energy and transportation projects nationwide in fiscal year 2023,” the report said. “There was $220 billion in total investment in clean energy and transportation projects during the same period.”

    Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

      By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

      Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

      Cristen is a writer of fiction and nonfiction. She holds a JD and an Ocean & Coastal Law Certificate from University of Oregon School of Law and an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck, University of London. She is the author of the short story collection The Smallest of Entryways, as well as the travel biography, Ernest’s Way: An International Journey Through Hemingway’s Life.
      Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

      Read More

      Mexico Braces for Its ‘Highest Temperatures Ever Recorded’
      Mexico could see record temperatures in the next two weeks,
      By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
      Alaska Youth on the ‘Front Lines of the Climate Crisis’ Sue to Stop LNG Pipeline
      Eight young people from Alaska are suing their state government,
      By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
      NOAA Predicts 8 to 13 Atlantic Hurricanes for 2024
      The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Climate
      By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

      Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

        By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

        Latest Articles

        • NASA Launches Satellite to Predict Climate Change by Studying Earth’s Poles
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 27, 2024
        • Mexico Braces for Its ‘Highest Temperatures Ever Recorded’
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 24, 2024
        • WWF Sues Norway Over Approval of Deep-Sea Mining in Arctic Waters
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 24, 2024
        • A ‘Surprisingly Good’ Beer Made With Wastewater 
          by Paige Bennett
          May 24, 2024
        • Alaska Youth on the ‘Front Lines of the Climate Crisis’ Sue to Stop LNG Pipeline
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 23, 2024
        • The Next Great Human Migration: Abrahm Lustgarten on America’s Future Climate
          by Craig Thompson
          May 23, 2024
        • NOAA Predicts 8 to 13 Atlantic Hurricanes for 2024
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 23, 2024
        • Half of Global Mangroves Are at Risk of Collapsing, IUCN Warns
          by Paige Bennett
          May 23, 2024
        EcoWatch

        The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

          • Climate Climate
          • Animals Animals
          • Health + Wellness Health + Wellness
          • Insights + Opinion Insights + Opinion
          • Adventure Adventure
          • Oceans Oceans
          • Business Business
          • Solar Solar
          • About EcoWatch
          • Contact EcoWatch
          • EcoWatch Reviews
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy Policy
          • Learn About Solar Energy
          • Learn About Deregulated Energy
          • EcoWatch UK
          Follow Us
          Facebook 568k
          Twitter 233k
          Instagram 41k
          Subscribe Subscribe

          Experts for a healthier planet and life.

          Mentioned by:
          Learn more
          • Privacy Policy
          • Terms of Use
          • Cookie Preferences
          • Do Not Sell My Information
          © 2024 EcoWatch. All Rights Reserved.