The Deepwater Horizon’s 2010 catastrophic oil spill is a painful reminder of the financial, social, and environmental impacts of offshore fossil fuel production. Provisions of the IRA that encourage more industrial development will place increased pollution burdens on the backs of southern communities already suffering the harms of pollution, even as Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says we need to stop expanding fossil infrastructure. The Gulf South must be spared from such a high climate burden.
The IRA will provide desperately needed renewable energy and efficient electrification support, however, we must remain vigilant and ensure that the benefits created by the IRA are felt by coastal communities.
The otherwise commendable Inflation Reduction Act simultaneously takes a step backward by holding renewable energy expansion hostage to more fossil fuel production and subsidizing efforts to keep fossil fuels and old nuclear reactors alive.
We’ll be leaning hard into helping communities access the benefits from IRA and we’ll be using every tool we have to stop further sacrifice of our home.
