Earlier this week, the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law by President Biden. While the name doesn’t sound that exciting when it comes to climate, it’s actually an incredibly exciting moment in legislative history, as the IRA is the largest climate bill ever signed into law.

Standard in the way that Washington works, the Inflation Reduction Act includes a $369 billion dollar investment in clean energy. By no small amount, this bill will have the greatest impact on the climate that the US has ever put into action through lowering energy costs for individuals, building a clean energy economy, and reducing pollution.

Jeremy Jones explains it with authority and empathy on the Protect Our Winters website, realizing a huge achievement in POW’s efforts in lobbying for regulation and change on a governmental level. Says Jones, “As with any big objective, compromises needed to be made and plans changed along the way as conditions changed. But, the bill signed today is projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about one gigaton in 2030, 10 times more than any other single piece of legislation in history. And we are now on track to reduce emissions by 40% (of 2005 levels) by 2030. From here, state and local governments along with the marketplace should be able to carry the torch forward to fulfill our global commitment to the Paris Agreement to reduce by 50% by 2030. And POW will be working to keep that torch burning to 2030 and beyond.”

Just a few years ago, the US was egregiously pulled out of the Paris Agreement and now, thanks to the efforts of so many, the country has made a huge step in meeting the agreement’s goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030.

This is a huge day for our climate. While there’s still more work to be done, the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act is an enormous positive for the future of our winters, summers–for our Earth. Next up, voting in midterm elections so we can keep the snowball gaining speed.

Read Jeremy Jones’ full letter on the POW website.