Weekly Briefing: What we achieved by passing and protecting the IRA
August 20, 2025
Saturday, August 16, marked the three-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act — a piece of landmark climate legislation that CCL helped support.
“Over its first two-plus years, the IRA spurred hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy investments and a rapid deployment of projects like solar farms and battery storage facilities. And most of the IRA’s grant and loan funding was successfully implemented,” explains CCL Research Manager Dana Nuccitelli in a new blog post.
The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act significantly rolls back the IRA’s climate measures. But even so, Dana points out, “Those successes have already put a dent in America’s climate pollution.”
Dana looked at projections from the expert energy systems modelers at the Princeton REPEAT project to understand the IRA’s impact. “Compared to a world in which the IRA never became law, we’ll save about 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide pollution over the next decade,” he finds.
Dive into the data in today’s new blog post — and remember that the advocacy efforts of you and your fellow CCLers helped make it happen!
Read Dana's Blog
Take action this week
If you have a little time: Write to Congress to hit 10k! We’ve nearly hit our goal of 10,000 messages to Congress about climate funding in federal agencies. Will you write to your lawmakers today, or share this page with a friend? Here’s a little more context about what we’re asking for: The Trump administration’s budget proposal for 2026 is seeking dramatic cuts to climate and clean energy programs across a range of federal agencies. But Congress has the final say on those funding levels. So we’re asking Congress to support robust funding for key programs in NOAA, NASA, and the Department of Energy.
If you have more time: Practice talking about clean energy and climate advocacy. In the course of your CCL volunteer work, you may run into people who think it’s too hard or not productive to work with Congress on climate or clean energy issues. That may be especially true right now, after the recent passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which rolled back clean energy tax credits. Our August Action Sheet includes a communications exercise to address this. This sample conversation helps you acknowledge political challenges while introducing people to the power they have to make a difference. Practice the exercise and try to weave those ideas into your conversations with others this month.
Featured: Meteorologist Outreach Action Team - Read their feature here!
Upcoming events
8/25: Inclusion Workshop - Environmental Justice - CCL’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Team is hosting this session, which will include an overview of environmental justice—what it means and why it matters—and then cover current issues surrounding migration equity and how these issues affect the work of environmental justice organizations. The workshop will be co-led by a member of CCL's Climate and Environmental Justice Action Team. RSVP to attend.
8/26: Braver Angels Debate on Nuclear Power - Braver Angels, a national organization working to bridge the partisan divide, is hosting a virtual debate about nuclear power. “Unlike some debate programs, the point isn’t to win; it’s to understand the other side a little better,” Braver Angels says. Bruce Morlan will be representing CCL, and Beth Malow will be chairing the debate — both are members of CCL’s own Braver Angels Action Team. The event is open to the public and free to attend. Register to attend.
9/3: Jewish Action Team Resilience Workshop - CCL’s Jewish Action Team is hosting a workshop with Tamara Staton, resilience coach and transformational facilitator of Changing Your Climate. “Rosh Hashanah is coming soon. We can use some help building our resilience so we can start the year ready to take on the mitzvah of saving our planet,” the team says. RSVP to attend.Recent Posts