Now a discussion on the clean Energy Benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act and how it affects local communities around the country. State and local lawmakers highlighted several topics from Green Energy Jobs to funding for disaster recovery. Hosted by the elected officials to protect american network, this is nearly one hour and 10 minutes. Good morning, everyone. My name is alex quinn and im president of elected officials to protect america. Eopa is a nonpartisan network of elected officials who are deeply committed to protecting our planet from the dangers of the climate crisis. Ensuring land and water production and democracy and helping to ensure environmental justice. We are here today to highlight the historic investment of the Inflation Reduction Act. It is a historic investment in our security, prosperity and health. I first saw the importance of this when i was deployed out with the marine corps in iraq. It was one of those blistering hot days, when you touch the rifle, marines can sometimes be overzealous and we tried to do competitions. Who can touch it longest in the heat . Unfortunately, someone tried to blow our vehicle up. Fortunately, he was not very good at his job. As the dost the settling, we managed to catch him and realized he was a farmer. A farmer who had been paid because his crops had failed due to a massive drop due to Climate Change. Unfortunately, these droughts and disasters are becoming more and more common as we tragically have seen in maui. Now, we are seeing the urgency to protect us from natural disasters become threat multipliers. This is not limited to one area of the world. In the pacific, it is an existential threat for many ireland nations, not just from the Sea Level Rise but the salt water getting into the fresh water. So, we can no longer have fresh water to drink. These are unfortunately small examples that affect the geopolitical security situation. Coming back to the u. S. , the great thing is, we have passed a historic investment of over 270 billion to further our security, health and prosperity. The exciting thing about the ira is it creates a Clean Energy Future. In the last eight months, we have seen 96 gigawatts of new clean power announced, that is enough to power 20 million homes or one in seven homes in the u. S. We have companies who have announced the u. S. Batteries manufacturing will support 10 million evs a year. In 2001, we produced less than that, far, far less. We have the capacity now to move forward into a Clean Energy Future. There is also expected to provide private Impact Investment that is leveraging at 50 to 200 more than we originally thought. So, the opportunities are endless and how we can increase the ability of the ira to help our communities around the United States. The wonderful thing here is we have elected officials from the state and local level, economists and businesses, who are seeing the benefits of the ira locally and bringing their Community Members to prosperity because of this historic investment. So, i would like to introduce nikita next from colorado to be our first speaker. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. I am state representative look we know ricks on the great state of colorado. I am excited to be here. Like alex said, the infrastructure reduction act is giving amazing funding to all the states. In colorado specifically, water is a huge issue. The Colorado River seeds not only california, but comes down through arizona and nevada and we have seen water levels decline. All of us are at risk. It is an existential stress as far as water usage. We need to the funding that is coming through the infrastructure reduction act will allow us to make significant improvements on how we use water for our farmers, the crops have been going growing in california, everybody is using water. We need to look at that. I am excited about the investment that is going to our Public Transportation and into clean water, clean, safe, Drinking Water. We have a lot of lead pipes within colorado and this funding will allow us to replacement of these lead pipes and replace some of the infrastructure attached to the water. In addition, highspeed internet, the Digital Divide is a huge issue within our state. 16 of colorado did not have access to internet connectivity. We have about 750 Million People who could get signed up. So far, 211,000 have signed up and there is more to go. 750,000, i should say, not 750 million. We are using this funding to make sure everyone has access to digital. If you are not online, you are out of touch. Covid showed that. We need to make sure everybody who can get online to affordable connectivity is involved and engaged in that. There is over 283 specific projects identified by that will be specifically funded by this infrastructure reduction act. Colorado stands to gain greatly from the investment and we are excited to see what colorado looks like in the next few years. Thank you, very much. [applause] good morning. I am state representative sandra from georgia and im going to take it from a different perspective this morning. My transition is to clean, Renewable Energy. It is not only costeffective, but also effective for achieving energy independence. Reducing environment until Environmental Impact and enhancing market resilience. Renewable Energy Resources are often the most affordable power options available in the present day market. Renewable energies helps reduce dependence, energy helps reduce dependence on volatile fossil fuels, prices, ensures stability and security in our energy supply. By adopting a clean energy economy, we can effectively curb energy costs by simultaneously increasing market resilience. The ira plays a vital role in setting up the path towards Sustainable Energy security with a clean energy economy. In georgia, Small Business is home to 1. 1 million citizens, which is 99. 6 of all businesses in the state. This money will greatly benefit our Small Businesses in georgia. As you know, in georgia, we are having difficulties in rural georgia with our farmers. The Inflation Reduction Act will provide our farmers with a lot of investment, a lot of opportunity so they would be able to grow and be successful. Then, we also have infrastructure and internet issues in the state of georgia. This will provide millions and millions of dollars to our Rural Counties so our kids will be able to have Internet Access, because during covid, we saw that it was very much we had kids having to park at mcdonalds and go to burger king late at night trying to get internet connectivity. We should not have that. Not in the state of georgia or any state. This reduction act and the funding will provide great resources and help the citizens of georgia. Thank you. [applause] good morning. I am Council PresidentJoyce Waterman of the great city of jersey city. This ira act is important, especially to me. Because what i do, i advocate for Diversity Inclusion so much. In this act, it will make sure that minority women and veterans are serviced, which is so important. Part of the challenge that we have in jersey city is government sometimes gives us money, but sometimes, we are behind with the training. So what we are in the process of doing right now in the city of jersey city is training different residents on how to do lead testing. Because that is a high thing in jersey city, when it comes to our School Systems. Is the lead testing. At this time, we are training people to be prepared for when the money is distributed, we are ready to go. Not only that, when you look at jersey city transportation, in certain areas, it is like a desert hub when it comes to transportation. And we need to Start Building more transportation for the people, especially in this marginalized communities, to get around. So often, we want people to thrive but we do not give them the tools to thrive. And when it comes to transportation, they need to be able to get around in order to get jobs and service their families. I am excited about this bill. I am excited about the money we will receive from this bill. I am also excited that minorities was included. There was compensation set aside. My role as an elected official is to make sure it happens. When the money comes, lets make sure it happens. So often, we are often forgotten. And one thing i want to say, in this country, we believe in longevity. But in order to have longevity, we have got to have clean health, clean water and clean soil. So, we can leave a better earth for our children and their children and their children. Our roles as elected officials is to make sure life continues on. Lets keep america strong and lets dont forget those who are less fortunate because they definitely need to have a seat at the table and we must continue to be their voice. Thank you, and god bless america. [applause] good morning. I am dr. John paula mehdi. I am a city councilman in schenectady, new york, as well as an associate professor at economics at the college of Health Sciences and president of the society. The importance of this ira cannot be understated for working families. It attacks the climate crisis, wage stagnation and inequality. This is important, because many working families bear a disproportionate burden from harmful fossil fuel production. Often in low income communities, these neighborhoods expensed higher rates of asthma and other negative effects, including lost workdays and premature death. The ira invests in communities that suffer the most from environmental and Health Hazards , providing more than 3 billion to cut pollution and improve public health. The key here is that the ira relies on incentives, rather than regulations. Allowing companies to invest in the best technology available. The ira incentivizes the use of prevailing wage to help attract more young people to manufacturing. This enhances Clean Energy Infrastructure incapacity. And capacity. Investments and job creation are vital for developing the necessary infrastructure to produce sustainable, clean energy. In particular, the iras Clean Energy Tax credit could add more than one gigawatt of new solar and wind capacity by 2030, crating millions of new jobs. The result will be a cleaner environment. Estimates are that the ira will accelerate carbon reduction 31 to 44 . For the very first time, congress is using Clean Energy Tax incentives for job creation and developing a transition from fossil fuels. An investment of 370 billion dollars. The ira is the countrys most significant investment in clean energy and clean manufacturing in history. Capable of creating an estimated 9 million jobs over the next 10 years. In my hometown of schenectady, new york, funding of wind power has resulted in 200 new highpaying jobs and 50 Million Dollars of investment in our General Electric facility. Additionally, in nearby albany, investment in wind power has created 500 construction jobs and 500 to 550 direct wind power jobs. These newly created 750 permanent jobs will benefit those families that have been hardhit by a bad economy, high inflation, high utility costs and struggling to put food on the table. Other families have struggled with high utility costs, trying to figure out how to heat and cool their homes. The ira provides new yorkers with the opportunities to purchase energyefficient appliances that will save them money. These are real savings with real effects. That is the impact of these jobs. This is the impact they will have in communities around the nation, just like in mine. Schenectady has also been impacted by the effects of Climate Change, particularly with funding. The ira provides funding to communities like mine that will boost resilience. For example, for flood proofing. You cant imagine the devastation that flooding has caused families and individuals in schenectady. To look at the devastation in their faces is heartbreaking. Hopefully, i will never have to console another family or individual in schenectady because there residence was destroyed by flooding as a direct result of Climate Change. While this legislation is the largest federal Climate Investment in history, it is just a start towards the goal of net zero Carbon Emissions in the United States. Its success is dependent on a number of factors requiring sustained attention and investment from the federal government. The u. S. Is a global trailblazer looked to for leadership. Everyone wants, needs, clean air, clean water and clean soil. This is an opportunity for the United States to show other nations the path forward, for industries to adopt Clean Energy Technologies globally. The ira has put us on a path towards Energy Security with a clean energy economy. Thank you. [applause] i have my little statistic notes here. Ok. Hello. I am sandra campbell, in the art Public Benefit corporation. I want to say thank you very much to alex and eopa for having me here. I just wanted to say quickly, a couple of things from our perspective. The other night at dinner, i got to speak to some people from the private equity perspective. The ira, the Inflation Reduction Act, has really started to fill what we see in new york, filling a pipeline of wonderful different projects that from listening to what you have said and just all of the Different Things we see streaming in. We are looking at 12 to 36 months where i am sure there will be tremendous progress in being able to start putting in a lot of different changes to help with all of the crises. Over the last few months, there has been all kinds of extreme weather. I was just noting down that globally in 2023, june, we have a record set it is the highest monthly sea surface record in 174 years, the noaa has on record. The other statistic is important to share. Statistics are compelling. The anniversary of the ira only for its historical significance for me impacts are already happening. As a member of the new York State Assembly ive been of a staunch protector of our states natural resources. Including the climate leadership and Community Protection act we passed in 2019, which has emerged as one of the most allencompassing climate objective policies nationwide. It takes important steps to combat Climate Change, including reducing greenhouse gases, implementing Clean Energy Goals and investing in Green Energy Projects in a world grappling with the realities of Climate Change, this landmark legislation represents a beacon of hope and progress. It symbolizes our unwavering commitment to forging sustainable, vibrant communities that prioritize not only our environment, but also the lives and wellbeing of our citizens. Crucially, the climate leadership and committee protection act is not just about policy and regulation. The measure also invests in Renewable Energy projects, solar rays, Wind Turbines in public, low Income Housing areas. Further, it requires our new York State Department of Environmental Conservation to report on the barriers to these opportunities for Renewable Energy projects, energy efficiency, weatherization investments and low emission Transportation Options in disadvantaged communities and to invest in these projects like we never have before. The climate leadership and Community Protection act embodies a broader principle of inclusivity and fairness. It underscores that the benefits of Climate Action should uplift every corner of our society, particularly those that have historically faced exclusion and marginalization. This is where the Inflation Reduction Act steps in with its justice 40 initiatives. Back in my home district, two communities i represent, the cities of amsterdam and gummer Montgomery County and the city of getting tatty shinning tatty schenectady county are designated justice 40 communities. These important pieces of legislation are pioneering a transformation that unholy that not only reduces the inflationary burden, but addresses the inflation of disparities among our communities. New york