Effective implementation of the IRA solves climate change

John Podesta and the IRS are racing to implement the climate law’s clean energy tax credits John Podesta’s résumé includes stints as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and counselor to President Barack Obama. Now the veteran Democratic power broker is taking on what might be his hardest job yet: implementing President Biden’s landmark climate law. Podesta, 73, returned to the White House in September to oversee implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, which authorized the biggest burst of spending in the nation’s history to bolster clean energy and curb planet-warming emissions. Podesta’s central task might seem dull and bureaucratic, but it’s incredibly important for U.S. climate and industrial policy: He must ensure that the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department issue detailed guidance on how consumers and corporations can use $270 billion worth of tax credits to spur the deployment of clean energy nationwide. “In terms of people who have the skills, the expertise and the relationships within the federal government to tackle such complicated issues, there's no one like John Podesta,” said Christy Goldfuss, chief policy impact officer at the Natural Resources Defense Council and a former colleague of Podesta’s at the Center for American Progress think tank. If successfully implemented, the law’s tax credits could supercharge domestic manufacturing of solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and other green technologies. They could also help the United States meet Biden’s ambitious goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 50 to 52 percent by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.