Here are 5 ways Wisconsin's environment could be impacted by spending through the Inflation Reduction Act
Last week, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, which will kick off a suite of action on health care, taxes and climate change.
The bill, passed by Democrats without any Republican support, dedicates nearly $370 billion towards climate change and energy security — the largest single investment to tackle climate change in the country’s history.
“We have to do this because Mother Nature has been screaming at us,” said U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, a Democrat representing western Wisconsin.
Scientists say models show Wisconsin is likely to become a much warmer state with temperatures mirroring those currently seen in Missouri. And, as residents have already seen, warmer temperatures bring more extreme storms that cause flooding, coastal erosion and toxic blue-green algae blooms.
From helping farmers to creating resilient coastlines to paving the way for renewable energy, experts say the act will help Wisconsin address the root causes of climate change.
Here are five ways the Inflation Reduction Act will affect Wisconsin:
More funding for farming conservation programs
More Wisconsin farmers who want to start sustainable practices on their land but need funding to do so could get that opportunity with a nearly $20 billion boost to existing U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs.
The programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program, provide farmers financial and technical assistance to reduce nitrogen losses, carbon emissions, soil erosion and other harmful environmental impacts through strategies such as cover cropping and managed grazing.
For years, demand for the programs has exceeded the money available. A fact sheet on the IRA's agricultural provisions estimates that for every farmer who receives funding, two more have to be turned away.
"(The EQIP effort) is probably one of the best tools we use to get conservation on the ground," said Christina Anderson, climate resilience program manager for Wisconsin Land and Water, a group that supports the state's local conservation districts and the farmers they work with. She hopes the added funding for the programs will bolster soil health across Wisconsin to reduce runoff and improve water quality.
The measure will also provide about a billion dollars through the Natural Resources Conservation Service to specifically carry out projects to adapt to climate change, as well as collecting data on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration.
Despite many innovative practices to address the issue, "it's really scary as a farmer to try something totally new," Anderson said. The infusion of money could provide more support.
The money could be vital for farmers who have seen the impacts on their land of a changing climate and want to keep their practices both profitable and better for the environment.
"They have seen (climate change) first-hand with an increasing number of extreme weather events, and they understand that the longer we fail to act, the more costly it will be for our agricultural economy," said U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin, who supported the bill.
Help for rural areas transitioning to clean energy
The act funnels $2 billion to the Rural Energy for America Program, which provides loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to help kickstart renewable energy and improve energy efficiency.
"So many of our clean energy resources or renewable resources are in the rural areas," said Andy Olsen, senior policy advocate at the Environmental Law & Policy Center.
Despite an appetite for cleaner energy in rural areas, funding for such projects has struggled to keep up with demand.
Over the past 11 years, Olsen said, there have been nearly five times more requests for funds than are available to pursue projects like constructing wind and solar farms and installing high-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
The boost from the IRA should "dramatically" decrease that competition and make more money available in Wisconsin and across the U.S., he said.
Wisconsin's electric cooperatives, which serve about 270,000 homes and businesses in rural areas of the state, will also for the first time be eligible for renewable energy tax incentives.
Investments in wetlands to help both birds and communities
Warmer temperatures, extreme storms and fluctuating lake levels are making it hard for many birds to survive. In Wisconsin, 30 percent of bird species that breed here have populations that are in decline.
Warmer temperatures are shrinking their ranges, changing migration patterns and making it a challenge to find food when they need it, said Marnie Urso, senior policy director for Audubon Great Lakes.
Many of Wisconsin’s birds also rely on wetlands and marshes to nest. The Black Tern — a bird once widespread across Wisconsin, but now endangered — nests on floating mats made of plant material, a behavior threatened by unpredictable lake levels.
Funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative already has made strides in recovering the Great Lakes Piping Plover that breed in Northern Wisconsin, a recovery that climate change now threatens.
The new law will directly invest in important bird habitats, such as wetlands, helping the effort to recover bird populations, like the Black Tern.
A lot of the investments from the new law will work hand in hand, Urso said.
Wetlands and marshes provide a natural buffer for more inland areas because they “absorb that water and help mitigate the effects of flooding not only for bird species, but for communities as well,” said Urso.
RELATED: What's the state of the Great Lakes? Successful cleanups tempered by new threats from climate change
More funding for coastal resilience
Blooms of toxic blue-green algae and dramatic swings in lake levels already make climate change a major threat to Wisconsin’s coastal communities. In less than a decade, Lake Michigan water levels swung an unprecedented six feet from a record low to a near-record high, threatening homes and infrastructure along the shoreline.
“We need to be taking a much more proactive approach to coastal resilience in the Great Lakes,” said Joel Brammeier, president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. The new law will bring in more funding through existing programs designated to restore and rebuild coastlines, such as using nature-based solutions, which mimic the natural features of the shoreline and stabilize the coast.
One example is a planting a living shoreline with diverse plants that can withstand both dry and flooded conditions. It simultaneously helps to prevent erosion during extreme lows and absorbs water during extreme highs, keeping inland communities dry.
Communities will also become more resilient through funding aimed at environmental justice, said Brammeier, helping communities that are suffering from an unfair burden of pollution.
Now, there will be funding to give “communities that are impacted by pollution the resources they need to have a seat at the table to stop that pollution,” he said.
Incentives for energy efficient homes and electric vehicles
Energy efficient appliances will now be more affordable, helping Wisconsin families reduce their monthly bills and make repairs around their homes.
“There's going to be a lot of incentives for people to invest in energy efficient appliances, home upgrades, energy efficient, home remodels,” said Kind, who is not seeking re-election this year after 25 years in office. “We just need to incentivize people to purchase them and reduce their energy consumption.”
There will be rebates available covering 50 to 100 percent of the cost of installing new electric appliances, such as heat pumps, water heaters, clothes dryers, stoves and ovens. Rebates will also be available for households that are making improvements to increase their energy efficiency.
Wisconsinites who install solar panels and battery storage systems will also be eligible for tax credits that cover 30 percent of the installation costs.
There will also be tax credits for communities that install solar panels with an additional bonus for affordable housing properties. Also, grants will be available for state and local governments to adopt the most up-to-date energy codes, saving homeowners in Wisconsin more than 20 percent on their utility bills.
The new law will also make it cheaper for Wisconsinites to purchase electric vehicles with discounts up to $7,500 for new vehicles and $4,000 for used. Recently, the state also submitted a plan using funds from the bipartisan infrastructure bill to build more charging stations throughout the state.
Madeline Heim and Caitlin Looby are Report for America corps reporters who write about environmental challenges in the Mississippi River Basin and the Great Lakes, respectively. Contact them at mheim@gannett.com and clooby@gannett.com.
Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to this reporting effort at jsonline.com/RFA.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Inflation Reduction Act may help Wisconsin farmers, push clean energy
