The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Clara Pratte
Last week, President Joe Biden visited Arizona to declare a new monument, a historic event I was proud to attend, at the site of cultural significance to our Indigenous communities, there in the shadow of Red Butte. I was moved, watching Biden be introduced by a young tribal member from the region, be welcomed with an honoring song and prayer by the Havasupai people, and be on a stage filled with tribal leaders and the first Indigenous cabinet secretary, Deb Haaland of the Department of Interior, and be acknowledging, as president, how the creation of the Grand Canyon Park was once responsible for forcibly moving tribal members from their homelands.I choked back tears. It is a rare moment in these times to feel so proud, so seen, so understood, and so hopeful — all at once.And, to me, that visibility, that understanding is reflected by another monumental achievement the president was celebrating last week, the one-year anniversary of the climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act. The historic law, also known as the IRA, deserves more attention than it’s getting. It has provided $369 billion for urban, rural and tribal communities to cut climate-changing pollution and monthly bills with American-made clean energy. That means solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, grid batteries, energy efficiency upgrades and more.
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The IRA is already working for Arizona. The state is on track to get 13 new manufacturing projects and 13,000 new clean energy jobs. That’s among the most of all states. For example, the American Battery Factory’s new battery cell factory in Tucson will employ 1,000 people here in Arizona and pay them salaries around $65,000 per year on average.The IRA is working for Arizona families. Households are expected to save an average of $446 each year, thanks to the law’s $1 billion for modernizing building codes. And also, as many as 150,000 Arizona households are expected to install solar panels, thanks to the IRA’s cost-saving incentives. Over the lifetime of those panels, households can save up to $50,000.Importantly, the IRA is also working for tribal communities — not only in Arizona but nationwide. We are seeing the benefits of the law — lessening red tape and barriers to applying — so more of our tribal communities can access these programs. For example, there’s the Tribal Electrification Program. It helps homeowners in native communities electrify their homes with things like heat pumps. And there’s the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program. It helps tribal governments invest in clean energy generation projects. Both of those programs received a total of $225 million, and overtime, they’ll bolster tribal economies by encouraging more development on local lands.All these climate investments are so very important. This summer’s record-shattering heat wave highlighted the urgent threat of warmin …
See the full article on Arizona’s economic indicators, or, read more Arizona real estate investing news. Take your pick!
