Cárdenas Secures Key Clean Energy Wins in the Historic Inflation Reduction Act
The bill now heads to President Biden’s desk, where it will be signed into law.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Tony Cárdenas (CA-29) voted to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes key wins that he led to fund clean school buses and increase access to solar energy for low-income and communities of color. This transformative, historic piece of legislation includes Democratic priorities to lower health care costs, lower energy costs, combat climate change and ensure that corporations pay their fair share.
“Anyone can see that the climate crisis is already taking a huge toll on communities like ours,” said Congressman Cárdenas. “The Inflation Reduction Act is the biggest investment in fighting climate change in our nation’s history, and I’m proud to say that two initiatives that I led, funding for clean school buses and increased access to solar energy for environmental justice communities, have been included in this sweeping legislation! This bill is a big deal for communities like ours that are on the frontlines of the climate crisis – it will provide much-needed investment in clean energy, accountability for polluters and funding to address drought, wildfires and other environmental issues that Californians face.”
Congressman Cárdenas secured the following provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act:
- Funding for Clean School Buses
- Appropriates $1 billion for clean heavy-duty vehicles, including school and transit buses.
- Increased Access to Solar for Environmental Justice Communities
- Appropriates $7 billion to create an EPA grant program to enable deployment of residential solar in environmental justice communities.
“The Inflation Reduction Act lowers the cost of prescription drugs and works to reduce inflation so that you’re paying less for the gas in your tank and the groceries in your refrigerator. Plus, there are no new taxes in this bill – we are funding it by closing loopholes that billion-dollar corporations have used to avoid paying their fair share. The Inflation Reduction Act will do so much good for the Valley and I’m honored to have voted to pass it today,” continued Congressman Cárdenas.
Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act:
- Lowers prescription drug costs by empowering Medicare to negotiate drug prices.
- Protects seniors on Medicare from rising drug prices with rebates.
- Caps insulin costs at $35 a month for seniors and individuals with disabilities on Medicare.
- Lowers healthcare costs by extending ACA subsidies for three more years.
- Includes approximately $370 billion in investments addressing climate change – by far the single biggest climate investment in U.S. history.
- Puts environmental justice communities first.
- Creates measures to reduce carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030.
- Lowers energy costs for Americans.
- Invests in American-made energy solutions.
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