President Joe Biden’s administration is moving to release funds from the Inflation Reduction Act quickly, which will go towards efforts to fight climate change before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
Trump has vowed to roll back much of Biden’s environmental regulations, which the administration is also pushing to finalize, but The Hill notes that the distribution of funds would be a permanent step towards fulfilling Biden’s agenda.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients said in a memo to staff earlier this week that they were in a “sprint to the finish line,” and calling on them to “get as much done as possible for the American people” before Biden leaves office.
Zients noted that the administration has so far awarded all but about two percent of the funds it’s legally allowed to spend through October, but said that Biden “has directed us to keep up this pace and obligate as much funding as possible before the end of the term.”
He added, “Expect more action on high-speed internet funds to states, CHIPS incentives funding, IRA funding, and more.”
Some of the work the administration is doing to expand its climate change policies include finalizing rules that create more favorable conditions for biogas companies to receive investment tax credits via the IRA, and awards given by the Energy Department’s Loans Program Office to companies to build U.S.-based plants that produce electric vehicles and their batteries.