{"id":180100,"date":"2022-09-27T16:45:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T23:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eugeneweekly.com\/?p=187786"},"modified":"2022-09-27T16:45:16","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T23:45:16","slug":"joe-cools-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/2022\/09\/27\/joe-cools-the-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Cools the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

On August 16, President Joe Biden secured one of the biggest legislation victories of his career, signing $369 billion to invest in infrastructure to cut down on the country\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill isn\u2019t perfect, Sen. Jeff Merkley tells <\/span>Eugene Weekly<\/span><\/i> in a recent visit, as he would have wanted to see the more aggressive climate action that Rep. Peter DeFazio had proposed in the past, but it\u2019s a step toward supporting renewable energy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eugene Water and Energy Board public policy and government affairs program manager Jason Heuser says EWEB \u2014 and the rest of the country \u2014 will see some benefits, as will ratepayers in forms of rebates on items such as appliances and electric vehicles.<\/span><\/p>\n

The law has a lot of benefits for consumers, Heuser says, including water heaters, heat pumps, rooftop solar panels and more. \u201cAll sorts of technologies out there that we know save money,\u201d he says. Projects include funding more energy-efficient appliances, or supporting retrofitting houses so EWEB doesn\u2019t have to buy power from other energy sources. Reducing emissions through electricity demand is a way to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, he adds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The law will replenish some electric vehicle tax credits, Heuser says. The federal government\u2019s electric vehicle rebate system has a limit on vehicle models and the popular ones \u2014 such as Tesla cars \u2014have been maxed out already.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Heuser says the rebate under the IRA is written so it kicks in at the sale, rather than when the customer files their taxes. \u201cFor some people, that’s no big deal. But for other people, you know, that can make a real difference if you have to basically have that out-of-pocket cost and wait to be compensated,\u201d he adds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Merkley says that DeFazio had a superior bill on infrastructure and mass transportation. \u201cThey should\u2019ve taken his bill and it\u2019s frustrating that they didn\u2019t,\u201d he adds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill that passed has significant fossil fuel strategies that will be harmful for the environment, such as supporting the natural gas industry. \u201cIf we sustain a fossil gas industry \u2014 or massively expand it \u2014 our planet\u2019s toast,\u201d he adds. \u201cMethane is such a devastating element in trapping heat.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean that Merkley is against the IRA.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He says the legislation is a sign that the U.S. is working toward becoming a renewable energy country \u2014 not fossil fuel one \u2014 between 2030 and 2035, \u201cyou have to deploy a massive amount of solar and wind to make that happen.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Renewable energy sources can\u2019t compete against fossil fuels, Merkley adds. Because Congress lacks the political will to get rid of fossil fuel subsidies, the next best thing was to create improved subsidies for renewable energy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office<\/span><\/a>, Biden\u2019s plan will result in a decrease of the deficit by $90 billion from 2022 to 2031. The law\u2019s intent was to address inflation through reducing the national deficit, and it also lowers prescription drugs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the IRA was signed into law by Biden, the money isn\u2019t going to be sent to government agencies right away, Heuser says. But EWEB is happy to see the country taking action again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re overjoyed to see the United States back in the saddle in a leadership role,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re back in the game. This is a massive generational investment.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On August 16, President Joe Biden secured one of the biggest legislation victories of his career, signing $369 billion to invest in infrastructure to cut \u2026 Continue reading\u00a0\u2192<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,101,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-ew-extra","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extra.eugeneweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}