The "Inflation Reduction Act" Is Not the Green New Deal

NEXT YEAR, Democrats will trumpet the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as an example of how they get things done, and why we should vote for them. They’ll say that the IRA is the biggest piece of climate legislation in history and the like. It's a bad-faith claim regardless of who makes it and it's already driving me nuts.

Consider:

1) The IRA is not anywhere close to an actual Green New Deal. It’s a piecemeal approach to decarbonization that—at best—will power our unsustainable resource consumption with renewables. The IRA sprinkles EV vouchers over business-as-usual at a time when we desperately need systems change.

2) Elected Democrats had to be forced to pass the IRA by activists, kicking and screaming all the way. The Sierra Club's “A People’s History of the Inflation Reduction Act doesn't even mention the Congressional aides arrested for the sit-in in Schumer's office. Left to elected officials, the legislation wouldn’t have passed at all.

3) Starting with Jimmy Carter, Democrats have promoted oil and gas. The Biden administration is no exception.

Some thinkers (looking at you, Chomsky) use the exigency of the climate crisis to push Democrats. This does a disservice to activists who are building alternatives and looking past 2024.