The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August of 2022 has (along with its faults) provided a range of opportunities and challenges for climate advocates. It unlocks billions of dollars for clean energy, efficiency, climate justice, and community resilience; yet, if we can achieve rapid and equitable implementation remains to be seen...
Here, we round up research to inform the public engagement, organizing, mobilizing, and advocacy work that lies ahead thanks to the IRA and other federal initiatives1 (the "IRA+"). We'll update it as new insights emerge.
Some of the types of insights you'll find below:
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| Polling on awareness and popularity of the IRA | Strategy advice on using the IRA to empower organizing | Messaging guidance around the IRA and clean energy projects |
Do you have research, case studies, or lessons learned that you want to share? Send them our way!
(NOTE: There's so much out there on these topics, we are restricting this roundup to focus on the public engagement, organizing, and mobilizing dimension, with less emphasis on policy, or how your organization can access IRA funding. See the Lab's memo on Exploring IRA+ opportunities for background on our perspective).
LAST UPDATED: April 19, 2024
- 1These include the bipartisan infrastructure law (aka "IIJA"), the CHIPS Act, Justice40, environmental justice executive order #14096, and the 30x30 initiative.
Polling – recent
(see below for older polling)
Would you care more about the IRA if you thought we could lose it? (A–B, Climate Equity Action Fund, and The Energy Foundation, 2/1/24)
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Remains Broadly Popular (Bryan Bennett, Navigator, 11/15/23)
Voters Decisively Reject ‘Drill, Baby, Drill,’ Blame Oil & Gas Companies, OPEC+ for High Gas Prices (Data for Progress, Climate Power, Fossil Free Media, 11/1/23)
IRA turns one. A year later, what have we learned? (John Marshall and Jessica Lu, Potential Energy Coalition, 8/17/23)
A Year After the Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, Key Climate Provisions of the Law Enjoy Strong Support Across the Electorate (Data for Progress, 8/16/23)
One Year After Passage, the Inflation Reduction Act Maintains Broad Support (Navigator, 8/15/23)
Two in Three Continue to Support the Inflation Reduction Act (Navigator, 7/14/23)
New Polling on Clean Energy and Permitting Reform (Climate Power, Earthjustice, and Data for Progress, 5/30/23)
Who is most supportive of the Inflation Reduction Act? (Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, 3/30/23)
Messaging advice
Black + Latin@ Audiences: New Research & Message Testing Insights on the Inflation Reduction Act (A—B, 11/1/2023)
The IRA Influencer Campaign (Climate Nexus, Resource Media, Water Hub, 8/24/23)
Effective messaging for clean energy in a post-IRA world (Jessica Lu & John Marshall, Potential Energy Coalition, 4/10/23)
Clean Energy and the Inflation Reduction Act (Potential Energy Coalition, 2/7/23)
Message Testing on the Inflation Reduction Act (Data for Progress and Blue Rose, 8/3/22)
Implementation Message Testing: Inflation Reduction Act (Winning Jobs Narrative Project, 8/1/22)
Inflation Reduction Act: Messaging Guidance (We Make the Future, Aug 2022)
Strategic advice (beyond messaging)
Home energy rebates: Opportunities for community-based organizations to shape implementation (Rewiring America, The Greenlining Institute, and Rocky Mountain Institute, 2/1/24)
How climate activists can help get things built (David Roberts [Volts] & Jeff Ordower [350.org] 9/20/23)
A One Year Reflection: The IRA's Impacts on Latino/a/e Comunidades (Green Latinos, 8/15/23)
Building a movement that can take full advantage of the IRA (David Roberts [Volts], Hahrie Han [Johns Hopkins University] & David Beckman [Pisces Foundation], 4/26/23)
IRA Implementation: Advocacy & Our Work (The Partnership Project, 7/1/23)
Peer Learning Exchange: IRA Organizing (Nicole Ektnitphong, Climate Advocacy Lab, 6/29/23)
Our opportunity to build durable power through IRA implementation (Carina Barnett-Loro, Climate Advocacy Lab, 6/15/23)
The IRA Is an Invitation to Organizers (Kate Aronoff, Dissent, 5/1/23)
Making Good on the Inflation Reduction Act’s Promise & Scaling Investment in Community-Driven Climate Solutions (Hive Fund, 2/27/23 & 3/29/23)
Inflation Reduction Act: Campaign Opportunities for State Coalitions to Advance a Green New Deal (Green New Deal Network, 1/25/23)
Understanding where we go in a post-IRA world (Jack Zhou, Climate Advocacy Lab, 8/25/22)
Connect to Build: Frontline Organization and Federal Infrastructure Funding Opportunities (Emerald Cities Collaborative, SPARCC, and People’s Climate Innovation Center, 8/1/23)
Policy
The Federal Funding Primer on Climate Justice (Global Center for Climate Justice, 4/1/24)
How's IRA doing? (David Roberts [Volts], Trevor Houser [Rhodium Group], 3/13/24)
Unlocking Clean Energy Incentives for Underserved Communities (The Rockefeller Foundation, 3/8/24)
Incentivizing household action: Exploring the behavioral wedge in the 2021 IIJA and the 2022 IRA (Energy Policy, 1/26/24)
The Democrats' new consensus bill would supercharge transmission (David Roberts [Volts], Rep. Sean Casten & Rep. Mike Levin, 2/14/24)
Grading Biden’s Signature Law (New York Times, 2/9/24)
Federal Wins Toward a Green New Deal (Green New Deal Network, 1/1/24)
Inflation Reduction Act Wins & Harms (Green New Deal Network, 1/1/24)
Biden’s Fossil Fuel Fail: How U.S. Oil & Gas Supply Rises under the Inflation Reduction Act (Oil Change International, 11/1/23)
One year later: The Inflation Reduction Act and climate progress (Brookings Institution, 10/11/23)
Project Agreements Resource Guide (Data for Progress, 8/31/23)
The progressive take on the permitting debate (David Roberts [Volts] & Johanna Bozuwa [Climate and Community Project], 8/30/23)
The challenges of building transmission in the US, and how to overcome them (David Roberts [Volts] & Liza Reed [Niskanen], 8/10/23)
Climate Culture IRA Index (Rare, 7/1/23)
Inflation Reduction Act: Implementation Gaps for Local Governments & How to Close Them (Columbia Law School, 5/25/2023)
It's Up to States to Implement the IRA. Are they Ready? (David Roberts [Volts] and Sam Ricketts [Evergreen Action], 5/17/23)
The Journey of Justice40 (A Matter of Degrees, 2/15/23)
A User Guide to The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BlueGreen Alliance, 1/27/23)
Federal Climate Funds for Communities (Green New Deal Network)
FEDERAL CLIMATE FUNDING HUB (America Is All In, 1/1/23)
Investing in America (The White House, 1/1/23)
Climate and Environmental Justice Block Grants (National Wildlife Federation, 1/1/23)
Rural Cooperative Utilities and the Inflation Reduction Act (Sierra Club, 11/1/22)
Investments for Tribal and Indigenous Communities (NDN Collective and ReWiring America, 11/30/22)
IRA: Our Analysis of the Inflation Reduction Act (Sylvia Chi, Just Solutions Collective, 9/15/22)
Inflation Reduction Act: Environmental and Climate Justice Factsheet (Climate Justice Alliance [CJA], UPROSE, and Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, 8/15/22)
Polling – older
Voters’ Attitudes About Clean Energy Policy, Development, and Expansion (Hart Research for Climate Power & League of Conservation Voters, 2/13/23)
On the Inflation Reduction Act, Voters Have Heard Very Little (Alvin Gunnion and Sabrina Jacobs, Data for Progress, 11/3/22)
Senator Whitehouse: To Unlock the Full Potential of the IRA, We Need to Make It Easier to Build Electricity Transmission Lines (Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Data for Progress, 10/25/22)
Poll (Navigator, 10/24/22)
Times/Siena Poll: Democrats Buoyed by Abortion and Trump (Lisa Lerer and Nate Cohn, New York Times, 9/16/22)
Michigan and Wisconsin Voters Support the Inflation Reduction Act and Bold Actions to Address Climate Change (Danielle Deiseroth, Data for Progress, 9/1/22)
After Passage, Two in Three Americans Support the Inflation Reduction Act (Navigator, 8/18/22)
Key Themes from New Survey on the Inflation Reduction Act (Hart Research, League of Conservation Voters, and Climate Power, 8/15/22)
A Majority of Arizonans Support The Inflation Reduction Act (McKenzie Wilson, Data for Progress, 8/9/22)
Voters Support the Inflation Reduction Act (Danielle Deiseroth, Data for Progress and Climate Power, 8/3/22)
Unpacking Voters’ Perceptions of the Inflation Reduction Act (Matt Bracken, Julia Martinez & Amanda Jacobson Snyder, Morning Consult, 8/2/22)
Tools
Guide to the IRA (Rewiring America, Spring 2023)
RE-AMP Federal Funding Map (RE-AMP, Spring 2023)
How much money can you get with the Inflation Reduction Act? (Rewiring America, 1/1/23)