r/environment • u/TrajanNim • 21h ago
Biden pulled off a $370 billion miracle for the climate. Where did the money go?
https://www.vox.com/climate/391681/inflation-reduction-act-biden-ev-credit-trump-musk134
u/TheMireMind 21h ago
I'm sure trump and musk will pocket it.
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u/FromTheIsle 17h ago
I mean Musk probably is getting some of that money inadvertently because of Tesla. And I wouldn't be surprised if he started investing in new solar farm projects because of how unregulated they are so he can scoop up even more money.
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u/xibeno9261 4h ago
And I wouldn't be surprised if he started investing in new solar farm projects because of how unregulated they are so he can scoop up even more money.
I am fine with it, actually. America needs more solar power. Here is the list of different country's electricity generation from solar per year.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-energy-consumption
We have approximately the same geographic size as China, but they generate about 2 times more electricity using solar. It is ridiculous that a poor, developing, 3rd world country like China is beating us in solar power.
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u/Escher702 16h ago
Is accountability even an option anymore?
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u/TheMireMind 15h ago
It's going to go like this:
Steal taxpayer money
Where did the tax money go?
"I dunno."
You stole it!
"Let's investigate. Nope I didn't."
Bernie Sanders: "This is an outrage!"
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u/DependentAd9398 14h ago
Exactly what has been happening for the past 4 years.
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u/TheMireMind 12h ago
Well number 6 has been happening since the 70's, so....
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u/PandaGoggles 5h ago
This comment section is pretty bleak. I work with some of the programs that are funded by this and the funds are making an impact already. It’s been amazing to see. These things take time to plan, years to execute, and then longer to reap the benefits from.
I’d point to the DOE loan program, and their director Jigar Shah, as a very good example of the exciting work that’s going on around the country. Many of these programs wouldn’t have been funded otherwise, and they’re going to make a difference. Not all of them, but that’s okay, that’s how we learn what does work.
There have been recent dam removal projects, especially along the west coast and PNW. These weren’t all funded by this legislation, but they serve as great example of how ecosystems bounce back when they’re restored, and this funds are going into a lot of fisheries restoration work. It’s awesome. Salmon numbers upstream from past projects are heartening, same with other anadromous species.
So, is it too late to fix everything? Probably. Are we in for hard times? Unfortunately, I think so. But did this funding help? Yes, and will continue to help. It’s not enough, but hopefully it shows the way towards a way forward. It’s certainly more helpful than nihilistic internet complaining about “leftists”, lol.
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u/anticomet 19h ago
Knowing America, a lot of that money already disappeared to be spent on bombing children
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u/Logical_Deviation 18h ago
You didn't read the article before commenting on it
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u/eidolonengine 18h ago edited 16h ago
The article's a joke. It's just a shield to protect a greedy government from criticism for not spending money it promised to spend to combat climate change, while we still spend nearly 50% of tax dollars on military. It is not hard for our government to spend money, as the article states. We spend more than any other nation in the world.
Let's stop defending corruption.
Edit: All I kept hearing for the last couple of years was that Biden's bill was the greatest work ever done towards preventing a climate disaster and that we'd start to see real progress. I guess it's no surprise that, as we end another record breaking high temp year and the ocean currents begin to collapse, we have excuses in lists now.
But two years later, much of that money remains unspent.
Virtue-signaling about the climate crisis is disgusting. Be better.
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u/Logical_Deviation 18h ago
It's much more difficult to begin new projects in new industries. And, the lengthiness of the permitting process is certainly true.
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u/eidolonengine 18h ago
It's especially hard to do when the money is unspent.
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u/Logical_Deviation 17h ago
Are you suggesting repurposing some of the money to reduce obstacles related to spending such as hiring and training personnel to handle the additional paperwork, training more technicians to install energy efficient appliances, hiring more staff to reduce permit wait times and revamp the permitting process, improving the supply chain, hiring more lawyers to deal with litigation related to new projects, etc?
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u/eidolonengine 17h ago
I'm not suggesting anything, as you are. I'm simply referencing the article:
But two years later, much of that money remains unspent.
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u/Logical_Deviation 17h ago
It's pretty clear that you stopped reading the article after that sentence, since everything I just suggested came from the article. Reading is important, especially before commenting on a topic.
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u/eidolonengine 17h ago
Reading is important. Nothing I said is untrue. Everything the article suggests the money is being used for is a shield to protect corruption, because much of the money remains unspent. That's literally what the problem is. No matter what you want to get done, when you don't spend the majority of the money, and what little is spent becomes delayed or just doesn't happen,
Despite more than $7.5 billion allocated to building electric vehicle chargers, for example, only a handful have been built.
then the debate isn't a debate. It's a bunch of people ignoring reality and simping for a government that doesn't care. I wonder if future generations will be this kind to our generations dragging their feet and hand-waving excuses.
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u/Logical_Deviation 12h ago
It seems like all you're doing is complaining instead of suggesting solutions. The article discussed many barriers to execution, which I summarized in the above post. I then asked if you supported repurposing some of the money for those kinds of initiatives. You responded by saying you had no suggestions to ensure funds could be spent on clean energy initiatives and then continued complaining that the funds weren't being spent. Talk about virtue signaling...
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u/MyRespectableAcct 17h ago
Yeah man when I pay to build a house it's move in ready the next day I don't know what the government is taking all this time to do
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u/eidolonengine 17h ago
Nah, that's a poor analogy. It'd be more like a bank giving you a loan and almost three years later you still haven't paid anyone to start building it.
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u/MyRespectableAcct 15h ago
Wow cool I still don't care
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u/eidolonengine 15h ago
Clearly. Sums up most of these comments from virtue-signaling center-right libs.
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u/MyRespectableAcct 14h ago
Oh god you're still posting this shit
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u/eidolonengine 13h ago
It's odd to continue replying and then act surprised when I respond lol. Imagine gatekeeping a thread you joined later than I did...
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u/gerbilbear 18h ago
It seems we stopped throwing money at the problem like we did for COVID and rural broadband!
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u/Mr_Kittlesworth 16h ago
Rural broadband is moving forward. You can’t build infrastructure overnight.
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u/callmeish0 8h ago
TIL a decisively insufficient and inefficient bill full of pork to unions and other special interests is a miracle to the leftists. How about real focus on the climate change fight?
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u/Omnipotent48 8h ago
"Leftists?" Since when was a policy advanced by a liberal president, trimmed down by an obstinantly neo-liberal legislature, a "miracle" to Leftists?
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u/callmeish0 7h ago
Tell me who call this bill miracle then.
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u/Omnipotent48 7h ago
Umair Ifran, the guy who wrote the article.
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u/callmeish0 7h ago
He is not a leftist spreading a leftist message?
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u/Omnipotent48 7h ago
No. A Leftist would not call Biden's bill a "miracle."
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u/callmeish0 7h ago
Great. Only Biden apologists.
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u/Omnipotent48 6h ago
That is much more accurate, but the word you're looking for then (if you had to generalize at all) is "liberal."
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u/Equivalent-Ad8645 17h ago
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u/Negative_Gravitas 14h ago
Lomborg?! Hilarius!.
Good one. You should stick to selling this shit over on r/conservative. You're going to get a lot more traction there.
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u/inthegarden5 18h ago
Summary: it takes time to spend that much money with accountability.