This wasn't a conversation I planned to have. It started as a question: How much of Biden’s climate policy will actually survive? It turned into something bigger.

Climate action isn’t about good intentions. It’s about power, policy, and who gets to shape the future. The IRA is proof that economics drives change faster than morality ever will. Even those who oppose it are quietly taking the money. Even those who ignore it are benefiting. But will that be enough to keep it alive? Or was the US always one election away from undoing it all?

I want to believe the IRA is untouchable. That jobs will save climate policy where politics won’t.

That clean energy will win because it’s cheaper, not just because it’s right.

But hope isn’t strategy.

And a climate bill is only as strong as the will to defend it.

The possibility of 1 billion tons of CO₂ emissions saved in the U.S. with the IRA. Maybe 2 billion more from global spillover.

That still leaves 48 billion tons.

If we think this is the finish line, we’ve already lost.

Thanks to SEMAFOR for reaching out and nominating Tim McDonnell. And thank you, Tim, for a lively conversation and not holding back.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Climate Conversations and the Inflation Reduction Act

02:19 Tim McDonald's Journey in Climate Journalism

04:37 Understanding the Importance of the Inflation Reduction Act

06:40 The Economic Implications of Climate Legislation

08:55 The Global Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act

11:05 Political Challenges Facing the Inflation Reduction Act

12:35 IRA under the republican administration

13:38 Trump and Elon bromance: The Future of Electric Vehicle Tax Credits

15:37 Will Trump and Elon still be buddies after 4 years?

16:01 The Role of Clean Energy Jobs in the Economy

18:02 The Influence of Republican Districts on Climate Policy

20:03 The Myths and Facts of Climate Policy

22:29 Conclusion and Future Outlook

23:56 Busting Myths and Controversies

24:59 The Economic Case for Climate Action

27:40 Political Resilience in Climate Policy

32:40 the end of elon and trump bromance?

32:56 The Dynamics of Power and Influence

37:02 Conspiracy theories?

39:28 Debunking the Primary Energy Fallacy

43:20 The Global Implications of the IRA

46:51 Individual Actions and Collective Impact

50:06 end notation