Biden's clean energy czar Podesta says Inflation Reduction Act is 'all about' cutting carbon pollution
WH senior adviser John Podesta said the IRA is working to eliminate 'carbon pollution that's driving the climate crisis'
'Varney & Co.' host Stuart Varney argues Biden's Inflation Reduction Act is really a climate bill that's not delivering what he promised.
Senior White House adviser John Podesta said Wednesday that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), despite its name, is "all about" rolling back the carbon pollution that has been "driving the climate crisis."
Speaking from the briefing room at the White House, Podesta, who was selected by President Biden to serve as senior adviser to the president for clean energy innovation and implementation in September 2022, discussed the Biden administration's green energy efforts related to climate change.
Speaking on the subject of climate disasters on the measure's one-year anniversary, Podesta insisted that the IRA is working to eliminate carbon pollution.
"To stop these disasters from getting even worse, we have to cut the carbon pollution that's driving the climate crisis," he said. "And that's what the Inflation Reduction Act is all about."
John Podesta, senior advisor to the president for clean energy innovation, speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 16, 2023. (Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Podesta's comments came nearly a week after Biden admitted that the Democrats' signature piece of legislation – the IRA – wasn't as much about actually reducing the then-record-high inflation facing the nation as he originally touted to the American people.
"I wish I hadn’t called it that. It has less to do with reducing inflation than it does providing for alternatives that generate economic growth," Biden said during an appearance at a campaign fundraiser in Park City, Utah according to the press pool report.
"And so, we're now in a situation where if you take a look at what we're doing in the Inflation Reduction Act, we're literally reducing the cost of people being able to make their — meet their basic needs," Biden said.
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John Podesta, senior advisor to the President for clean energy innovation, center, speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 16, 2023. (Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"Even when there is inflation there is a way to provide breathing room," he added, citing negotiating medical prices as one example.
Biden's comments are a sharp turn from what he said in July 2022 ahead of the Inflation Reduction Act's passage through Congress on a party line vote.
"The Inflation Reduction Act is the strongest bill you can pass. It will lower inflation, cut the deficit, reduce health care costs, tackle the climate crisis, and promote energy security," he said.
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At the time of its passage, as the country faced an inflation rate near the highest level in 40 years, multiple analysts said the bill would not reduce inflation. The Congressional Budget Office said the bill will have "a negligible effect" on inflation in 2022, and in 2023 its impact would range between reducing inflation by 0.1% and increasing it by 0.1%.
Fox News' Brandon Gillespie, Kaitlin Sprague and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.