Billions already spent on climate change — but it’s not enough

There is some real progress in addressing climate change. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) increases support for climate-smart agriculture from $27 billion to $47 billion. It also provides $27 billion for lending institutions for loans for projects (big and small) that will reduce greenhouse gases. This funding will then leverage greater investment from the private sector in climate-friendly lending, and it is that private sector investment that will make the big contribution to change.

IRA also includes $720 million for Tribal and Alaska Native communities for sustainable energy​. The CHIPs and Science Act includes $2 billion for advancing semiconductor technologies for things like solar, wind and battery storage. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) includes $104 billion to modernize passenger and freight transit and accessibility and $73 billion for the nation's power infrastructure. And one of these bills (IIJA) is bipartisan.

I don't want to mislead — these things are not enough to deal with the crisis our children and grandchildren face. We must keep working for bipartisan legislation putting a price on carbon emissions, but there is value in taking a moment to appreciate what progress we have made.

Peter Rolnick

Iowa City