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For this live event at the WBUR Festival, Gina McCarthy and I discussed the EPA, the IRA, what’s at stake for us all... and, why we must never, ever pave paradise.
Gina led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Obama, was president of NRDC, and then, under President Biden, became the first ever National Climate Advisor, setting up a climate team in the White House.
Perhaps Gina’s crowning achievement was her work on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Congress passed this landmark bill in 2022, which allocated about $400 billion to the clean energy transition and has so far created over 400,000 clean energy jobs. It also reframed climate action as an economic opportunity — America can move away from fossil fuels, while reinvigorating the economy.
It was a huge deal, pivotal both in dollars and in shifting the status quo. But much of this climate progress, much of Gina’s work, is now under threat from the Trump administration. 🤬 So, Gina's shared her take on where we go from here.
Gina’s Calls to Action
* Work in your communities at the local level. Build constituencies. It’s all about working together.
* Don’t let young people think they don’t have a future. Show them they have a hand in building the future.
Mentioned in this episode:
* EPA’s clean power plant rule
* The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is the largest investment for climate in U.S. history.
* Roughly 80% of IRA benefits in republican districts.
* More than 400,000 new clean energy jobs have been created since the passage of IRA.
* Texas and Iowa lead on wind energy generation.
* Utility-scale solar is the cheapest form of energy, in most places.
* America is All In initiative
* My op-ed in Rolling Stone: What Now for Climate under Trump? Act Locally
* Almost half the drinking water in the country is contaminated.
* They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals by Mariah Blake
Credits: This episode was made possible with the support of Future Being, a grantmaking and special projects studio which supports the healing of our planet and the safeguarding of biological and cultural diversity. This show is produced and edited by Matthew Nelson/Stramash Media and me (Ayana), with help from Jenisha Shrestha. Thank you to WBUR and Grist for hosting us, and many thanks to Gina McCarthy.