Foreign Affairs: "America Rejoins the Climate Fight"
In his op-ed, RFF President and CEO Richard Newell writes about how the new Inflation Reduction Act will reposition the United States as a global leader in the fight against climate change.
"...Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, the United States will be able to both substantially reduce its emissions and credibly demonstrate essential international leadership on climate. But the new law doesn’t just affect the United States’ climate outlook. It also puts extensive measures in place to support domestic U.S. industry, including the production of clean energy equipment such as wind, solar, batteries, and the critical minerals required for their manufacture with an eye toward leveling the playing field for trade with China and ensuring access to essential raw materials. The United States is thus embarking on not one but two distinct shifts in its international posture: renewed climate leadership, and an industrial policy designed to take on Chinese competition and enhance U.S. energy security. Although the economic and political calculus for including provisions that support local economic development is clear, the decision could have foreign policy reverberations, disrupting aspects of cooperation on the international stage, from climate negotiations to international trade."
