The Climate Movement Is Out of Big Ideas
And in search of a political wave to catch.
The day President Biden's administration celebrated the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark piece of climate legislation in U.S. history, the weather was perfect. The White House's South Lawn, a lush green, was bathed in a clear blue sky. Ben Beachy, a special assistant to the President, remarked that "it felt like the dawn of a new era."
The Inflation Reduction Act aimed to inject hundreds of billions of federal dollars into clean-energy initiatives, with supporters viewing it as a major stride toward addressing climate change.
However, four years later, the Republican-led Congress has largely dismantled the IRA, leading to a slump in electric-vehicle sales and an acceleration of oil and gas development by the Trump administration, as well as a reduction in environmental protections. The U.S. climate movement is currently grappling with a sense of uncertainty and disillusionment, as longtime allies in the Democratic Party lose interest, corporate support wanes, and philanthropic backing becomes less robust.
Despite this, climate leaders insist they are merely experiencing a temporary lull, not a permanent setback.
Yet, the reality is that the American climate movement is struggling to find its next big idea. After the Inflation Reduction Act, which was initially perceived as one of the most confusing and tepidly-named laws in American history, the movement is grappling with a lack of consensus on how to drive the transition to renewable energy.
While there are innovative proposals such as state-level cap-and-invest programs, grid modernization, and greater investments in climate-change adaptation, the movement lacks the broad support needed to drive significant change.
The most discussed solution is affordability, an issue where the climate movement now has a new ally in economics. Solar and battery storage have become increasingly cost-competitive, offering a promising avenue for addressing climate change in a manner that resonates with Americans' immediate concerns. However, finding a unified, politically viable path forward remains a significant challenge for the climate movement.
Written by urgent.news from The Atlantic's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
