August 1, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The CEO Climate Dialogue applauds Senate lawmakers for including robust clean energy provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. These provisions would be a historic investment in reducing carbon emissions and accelerating the U.S. transition to a stronger, low-carbon economy. Congress should pass this important bill as soon as possible.

As a broad-based coalition of 4 leading environmental organizations and 22 top businesses representing multiple sectors across the U.S. economy—manufacturing, utilities, agriculture and food, energy and resources, automotive, chemicals, and financial services—the CEO Climate Dialogue is united in recognizing that as climate risks continue to intensify, so does the urgency to put in place policies that will help to reduce carbon emissions, put us on path to net-zero by 2050, accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy, bolster investment and innovation in clean energy technologies, create jobs, promote equity, and increase U.S. economic competitiveness.

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Members of the CEO Climate Dialogue met with key members of Congress this week to express this urgency and to advocate for federal action on climate, particularly the advancement of market-based climate policies—such as an economy-wide price on carbon—that are needed to meet the scope and scale of the climate crisis. We are pleased to see the inclusion of clean energy incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act on the heels of these important conversations.   

Specifically, we are encouraged that the proposal addresses critical priorities such as:

• Enhancement and modernization of tax credits for renewable power sources like wind and solar

• Expansion of those credits to include energy storage, nuclear power, clean hydrogen, and sustainable aviation fuel

• Incentives for EV purchases to accelerate the consumer shift to e-mobility

• Incentives to support advanced energy, climate-friendly manufacturing, and low-carbon procurement

• Investment in significant deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies

 

While important, these incentives alone will not be enough to meet our climate goals. Congress must also pass legislation that establishes an economy-wide price on carbon, which would effectively and efficiently harness the power of the market to generate additional revenue, create clean energy jobs, and encourage the development and deployment of clean energy technologies. CCD supports utilizing these market-based tools to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy, which is necessary to achieve the US goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.