Audience: Environmental 'Base'

Freezing temperatures and skyrocketing energy costs are knocking on our doors again in Texas, and conversations about reliable renewable energy projects are once again emerging. This has us thinking quite a bit this week about what stands in the way of siting and building renewable projects that are now well funded, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. Inevitably we return to the conversation about the role of misinformation.

It’s been over a year since passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). But the work has really just begun! Today, we wanted to provide an update on the latest research, polling, and strategic analysis related to public engagement and organizing around ongoing implementation of the IRA+ (the IRA, plus the other major Biden-era federal initiatives*).
We first wrote about the IRA soon after its passage. Our newsletter in June (“Our opportunity to build durable power through IRA implementation”) has a title that sums up the Lab’s orientation to the topic (along with our IRA+ strategy and research agenda memo), and serves as a summary of the state of knowledge in the spring; so we suggest you go read it for a good starting place, on top of which this update builds.
Today, we also debut a new tool on our site, the “Research Roundup: Inflation Reduction Act”.
This roundup page will provide a regularly updated one-stop-shop for all the research, polling, strategy, and insights we’ve identified related to advocacy, public engagement and organizing around IRA+ implementation. Stop by every few weeks to see what is new.
Please note that the Lab’s orientation to this topic is in keeping with our mission, and we seek to provide evidence-based insights needed to build durable people power. So we’re not seeking to provide guidance on all the policy ins and outs, nor how to secure any federal dollars. Contact us and we can direct you to other organizations that can answer those questions.

At the Lab, we believe that multiracial, cross-class (MRXC) coalition-building is essential if the climate movement is serious about tackling the climate crisis at the scale it demands. However, a historical lack of collaboration, trust, or healthy mechanisms to deal with conflict often impair these collective efforts. Our new Blueprint for a Multiracial, Cross-Class Climate Movement provides an analysis of the difficulties MRXC climate coalitions are likely to face and offers recommendations for a proposed path forward. Our intention is that these insights help advocates fighting for a livable climate and communities grounded in justice and shared prosperity.

Severe thunderstorms hit my hometown of Durham, NC last week, bringing 80 mph winds and flash flooding across our community. Around half the county was without power for more than 24 hours– presenting serious health risks for our most vulnerable neighbors, as temperatures (and humidity levels) climbed into the mid-90s. 
96% of people in the United States have faced extreme weather risks this summer (from flooding, storms, heat, or fire) according to the new “Danger Season” tool from the Union of Concerned Scientists that tracks county-level alerts.