Abstract:
On August 16, 2022, President Joseph Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). The wide-ranging law included provisions for lowering prescription drug costs, expanding the Internal Revenue Service, subsidizing the Affordable Care Act, and tax reform. But the largest share of the IRA’s $738 billion investment—$369 billion—was allocated to mitigating climate change. The law was designed to meet several objectives: stimulate the economy and reduce inflation, create well-paid working class jobs, and encourage consumers to buy American products—all within the framework of a carbon reduction strategy.
The task of implementing the climate-related provisions of the IRA was daunting. It would require coordinating not just among the agencies of the federal government, but with state, local, and tribal governments, with local organizations, and with the private sector.
The case goes on to describe the provisions of the IRA and the plan for implementing the law while detailing the significant challenges to reducing the country’s carbon emissions by 50% by 2030.
Learning Objectives:
Students will learn:
1. The importance of considering the empirical, managerial and political challenges of developing a successful policy implementation plan.
2. How to describe the components of a systematic, evidence-based approach to policy implementation.
3. To recognize the challenges and opportunities of business-government collaboration.
