Top administration officials from the Energy, Transportation and Treasury departments were on hand in Leesburg on Friday to talk up IRA implementation. …

Democrats, in stump speeches to the party base, aren’t shying away from connecting the Inflation Reduction Act to cause of mitigating the worst effects of global warming.

“We invested — in the largest way in the history of the world — in combating the climate crisis, to turn the situation around and ensure there will be clean water, clean air and clean energy in every single community,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to a room full of cheering House Democrats in a speech introducing President Joe Biden at the Lansdowne Resort, where the issues conference took place.

Biden, in his remarks to members Thursday, said Democrats must prevail in the 2024 election to “continu[e] the fight to save the planet.”

The administration has been playing up its crusade against the climate crisis to endear the president to activists who have complained about the White House’s support for some fossil fuel projects — adding to Democrats’ burdens in an election year marked by grumbling over the economy, fights over border policy and the president’s low approval ratings.

But that talking point alone isn’t going to be what drives people to the polls, said Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.), the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Democrats instead need to focus on what the climate gains in the Inflation Reduction Act would mean for people’s pocketbooks. …

‘A real sense of urgency’

There are more tangible examples around the country already when it comes to the Inflation Reduction Act, with red districts benefiting from the green manufacturing boom alongside blue districts. …

While some Republicans insist they like many of the energy tax credits, the GOP at large has panned the bill as a massive subsidy that they maintain will actually cause inflation to increase. Some say they’d be glad to repeal the entire law even if it jeopardized projects back at home.

Democrats, including Biden, said Thursday that they must combat this narrative on the campaign trail.

At the same time, while many of the clean energy tax credits created through the IRA have gone into effect — including those for solar panels and electric vehicles — state energy offices are still in the process of rolling out the rebate programs aimed at getting these credits to consumers. In many cases, Treasury has yet to provide guidance, and accompanying regulations necessary for new programs to go into effect are still at large.

“My colleagues and I have a real sense of urgency to keep rolling out these investments and the polices and not let the bureaucracy and red tape bog things down,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), one of Congress’ most vocal climate hawks.

“It’s one of the reasons why I was so frustrated the DOE took so long to stand up its heat pump incentives — the rebates — because now people aren’t going to have a chance to get those rebates before the election.” …

Top officials talk implementation

Hoyer said it was incumbent upon Democrats to “effectively communicate the positive impact of what we did, because this election isn’t, ‘OK, you guys are great.’ It’s about what we’re going to do in the future.” …

At the same time, the theme of this year’s issues conference is “finish the job,” and Democrats are focused on finding creative ways to connect the dots and explain to voters that the bill they helped pass in 2022 will soon be bearing fruit and producing cost-savings in people’s everyday lives. …

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(Excerpt from POLITICO. Photo Credit: Maryland GovPics – US House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons)