The outgoing Biden administration has now awarded more than $100 billion in grants made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), its flagship climate law.
As the United States prepares to welcome climate skeptic President-elect Donald Trump for his second term, the incumbent government has moved to obligate as much IRA funding as possible.
“When funds are obligated, they are protected,” explained an administration official. “They are subject to the terms of the contract, so when those contracts are signed and executed, this becomes a matter of contract law more than a matter of politics.”
IRA clean energy funding and associated tax benefits have benefitted a wide range of recipients, including numerous Trump allies, with Republican states reaping the lion’s share of the benefits.
The funding has enabled support for record-setting initiatives like the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, and clean energy tax credits under the Act could be worth as much as $1 trillion.
The Biden administration claims that it is on track to surpass its goal of obligating more than 80% of iRA funding by the end of the outgoing president’s term.
