Staff Reports
The Democrats' huge climate spending bill, which President Joe Biden signed into law on Tuesday, will give more than $40 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and almost $80 billion to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to help them grow (IRS).
The bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, includes $369 billion in total climate spending, and will give the EPA more than $40 billion in the current fiscal year to combat climate change, enforce environmental standards and secure “environmental justice,” according to a Congressional Research Service report. According to the EPA, the agency's budget for the fiscal year 2022 was about $9.5 billion. This means that the bill will more than quadruple the EPA's current annual spending.
With the $80 billion in new money, the IRS will hire 87,000 more agents, do more audits, and use other enforcement tools. According to the Democrats' summary of the bill, these changes will bring in an extra $124 billion because taxpayers will be more likely to follow the rules.
In line with the Clean Air Act, the bill will give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) $27 billion to start a "Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund." This fund will give competitive grants to national and regional "green banks," which will use the money to fund initiatives and projects that aim to cut carbon emissions. The "green banks" will pay for renewable energy projects that will help poor and low-income communities. The agency will only have 180 days to give these funds to "green banks."
Democrats are giving an extra $8 billion to reduce air pollution at ports and pay for grants to reduce pollution in general. The bill also gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) $3 billion for "environmental and climate justice block grants." These grants will help "engage politically in disadvantaged communities" through advisory groups, rulemaking, and workshops.
The bill says that the agency will also get $1.55 billion to pay for its program to cut methane emissions. This program will give oil and gas producers financial incentives to cut their methane emissions. Also, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will get a total of $906 million to pay for programs that deal with air pollution in schools, report corporate emissions, and help label "environmental products," among other things.
In a statement last Friday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan was happy that the Senate had passed the bill. The aggressive climate agenda of the Biden administration will be helped by the Democrats' huge spending bill. It will speed up the EPA's regulatory work and other operations.
The Daily Caller News Foundation asked the White House and the EPA for a comment, but they did not answer right away.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on WND.
