President Biden signed the $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act (H.R. 5376) into law Tuesday, kicking off an aggressive pre-midterm election campaign that, an executive memo said, “will use all the tools of the White House” to promote the law and its benefits to voters across the country.

Returning early from a family vacation in South Carolina, Biden put his signature to the new law surrounded by some of the key lawmakers who helped push it to passage, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Reps. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.).

And he made immediate use of the White House bully pulpit with a passionate speech about the IRA and what it represents for the country, laying out the Democratic talking points for the November midterms.

Pointing to other recently passed legislation such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act ― which aims to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the United States ― Biden said, “We are in a season of substance. … We’re delivering results for the American people. We didn’t tear down; we build up. We didn’t look back; we look forward; and today offers further proof that the soul of America is vibrant; the future of America is bright; and the promise of America is real and just beginning.”

The IRA’s $369.75 billion in energy funding will, Biden said, “allow us to boldly take additional steps toward meeting all my climate goals,” which include decarbonizing the U.S. electric grid by 2035 and creating a net-zero economy by 2050. “It’s going to offer working families thousands of dollars in savings by providing them rebates to buy new and efficient appliances, weatherize their homes, [and] get tax credits for purchasing heat pumps and rooftop solar, electric stoves, ovens [and] dryers.” (See What’s in the Inflation Reduction Act, Part 1.)

A White House fact sheet released Monday parsed out the savings, including $1,000/year from clean energy and electric vehicle tax credits and $350/year from rebates on heat pumps and other energy-efficient appliances.

Biden also stressed the new law’s potential for creating “clean energy opportunities in frontline and fenceline communities that have been smothered by the legacy of pollution and [fighting] environmental injustice.”

The bill signing ends a three-week marathon by congressional Democrats to get the slimmed-down budget reconciliation package — originally the $2.2 trillion Build Back Better Act — to Biden before beginning their August recess and midterm campaigns. After behind-closed-doors negotiations, Schumer and Manchin unveiled the draft of the bill on July 27. The Senate passed it on a straight party-line vote on Aug. 7, followed by a similar vote in the House of Representatives on Aug. 12.

On Tuesday, Biden handed the pen he used to sign the bill to Manchin, signaling his thanks for the West Virginian’s role in drafting and passing the IRA.

“This important legislation will give energy companies the certainty they need to increase domestic energy production while also lowering energy and health care costs and pay down our national debt without raising costs for working Americans,” Manchin said in a statement. “I look forward to following this momentum by passing comprehensive permitting reform next month to ensure these investments become the energy projects we need to decarbonize and boost energy security.”

Reaction

Clean energy organizations quickly offered statements of thanks and praise but, like Manchin, also called for further action.

The IRA’s clean energy funding “is not a cure-all but rather an overdue federal component to combat the climate crisis,” said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “This federal investment is a necessary cornerstone for climate action and clean energy commitments that must accelerate in all sectors of the economy on all levels — including state and local governments, the utilities that generate and deliver our electricity, corporations, and the collective actions of citizens.”

“Small businesses across the nation stand ready to deliver on the promise of this historic clean energy and climate legislation,” said Lynn Abramson, president of the Clean Energy Business Network. “The Inflation Reduction Act marks the start of a new era for deploying cleantech at unprecedented scale to drive down energy costs, cut emissions and boost our energy security.”

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said the new law provides “a long-term framework … for the solar and storage industry to drive economic growth in every zip code across the country.”

“It features long-term investments in clean energy and new incentives for energy storage, which give solar and storage businesses a stable policy environment and the certainty they need to deploy clean energy,” Hopper said.

Daniel Bresette, executive director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, said the new law will also send a message to other countries that the U.S. is serious about cutting its carbon emissions as they prepare for the next U.N. Climate Conference of the Parties in Egypt in November. “I hope this law will encourage world leaders to make more ambitious climate commitments, followed by their own transformative investments, and provide adequate support for decarbonization and climate adaptation efforts by developing countries.”

Judi Greenwald, executive director of the Nuclear Innovation Alliance, welcomed the law’s funding for advanced nuclear development, in particular its $700 million “to help make high-assay low-enriched uranium available for advanced reactor demonstration and commercialization through public and private partnerships and actions.”

But, echoing others, Greenwald said, “enactment of the IRA is just the beginning: Swift and effective implementation of this law will be crucial to ensuring it meets the goals intended by Congress and supported by the president with his signature today.”

‘Biden Backlash’?

Biden’s speech at the signing provided a preview of the Biden administration’s talking points for its “Building a Better America” campaign, in which “cabinet members will travel to 23 states on over 35 trips touting the Inflation Reduction Act and the administration’s accomplishments,” according to the White House memo first published by POLITICO.

For example, on Wednesday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be in Colorado for a roundtable discussion on the law’s benefits for agricultural stakeholders, while Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will be in California to talk about funding to tackle drought resilience. Digital strategy will include a “new, interactive website on climate incentives, including information for families, homeowners, small businesses and more on access to tax credits.”

The campaign will also develop “essential collateral”: talking points, graphics and state-by-state fact sheets to be distributed to state, local, tribal and territorial leaders.

Written by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jen O’Malley Dillon and Senior Adviser Anita Dunn, the memo notes that “our internal polling shows that messages touting the cost-lowering features of the Inflation Reduction Act — lowering health costs, prescription drug costs and utility bills — are among the highest testing messages ever.”

Another core message of the campaign will emphasize how “the president and congressional Democrats defeated special interests,” while Republicans sided with special interests.

But industry analysts ClearView Partners argue that the new law could trigger “a new wave of ‘Biden backlash’ ― a GOP-led defense of legacy economic franchises against energy transition technologies and environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.”

With Democrats seen as the party of green energy and Republicans the party of fossil fuels, ClearView predicts a 2023 Biden backlash in state legislatures, focused on four types of energy initiatives:

• restrictions on the closure of existing gas- or coal-fired plants;
• imposition of production taxes — as opposed to production tax credits — on renewable energy generation;
• siting restrictions on new solar and wind; and
• bans on local restrictions or prohibitions on natural gas hook-ups.

Republican leaders Tuesday similarly provided a preview of the party’s messaging ahead of the midterms.

“Democrats robbed Americans last year by spending our economy into record inflation,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) tweeted. “This year, their solution is to do it a second time. The partisan bill President Biden signed into law today means higher taxes, higher energy bills and aggressive IRS audits.”

“Biden just signed a bill to raise taxes during a recession, send the IRS after the middle class and give rich liberals tax credits to buy luxury electric vehicles,” tweeted Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee.

But ClearView also sees a longer-term shift in which “party-line energy policy cleavages could fade due to fundamentals. Green power (wind energy especially) already contributes significantly to red-state generation mixes. As renewables proliferate on GOP-represented grids, their economic and political relevance to state (and federal) government officials seems likely to increase too.”