The recently enacted climate law could provide $745 billion to $1.9 trillion in benefits to the nation through 2050 from the reduced impacts of climate change, according to an analysis by the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The benefits of the law, called the Inflation Reduction Act, include reducing the number of premature deaths and limiting property damage from sea-level rise and natural disasters, the analysis says.
“In the long-term, the Inflation Reduction Act will help avoid significant expenditures that the federal government might otherwise expect to spend on programs like crop insurance, health insurance, and fire suppression due to climate change,” the analysis says.
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The benefits will range from $1.8 billion to $13.3 billion in 2023 and grow to a range of $34.5 billion to $84.2 billion by 2030. The analysis is based on three different models of the estimated impact of the law on greenhouse gas emissions. The estimates are in 2020 dollars.
The law includes tax incentives and funding for renewable power, biofuels, electric vehicles, climate-smart agriculture practices and forestry management.
