Whatever one’s views of the acerbic Democratic strategist Jim Carville, his 1992 “It’s the economy, stupid” has become a cliché. That sentiment apparently resonates with voters, including the young ones not even born when Carville said it, as this recent Blueprint survey shows.
One would thus expect President Joe Biden would be a lot more favored in the polls. After all, since he became president, job creation has been stunningly robust, unemployment is running at historic lows, consumers are still spending at high levels, the stock market just hit 40,000, and wage gains have exceeded inflation for the past 11 months, in part because ever more minimum-wage earners have gotten long-delayed increases.
Despite this, polls relentlessly show the majority of Americans aren’t happy with the economy. This month, the index of consumer sentiment that had been rising as measured by the University of Michigan, fell to 67.4, the lowest level in six months, compared to 77.2 in April. Inflation is a big part of that. While the annual increase in prices has fallen from 7.8% in 2021 to 3.5% this month, Americans are now paying about a fifth more for items than they were in 2020. Housing prices—buying or renting—have soared to extraordinary levels, and during the pandemic, those sky-high prices extended from the coastal cities to the interior. Then, too, total household credit card debt is at the record level of $17.1 trillion, with 49% of cardholders carrying debt over from month to month, compared with 39% in 2021. That, in part at least, is driving consumer spending.
So it’s not as if there aren’t a few gloomy economic matters on people’s minds. However, given the right leadership, the current strengths and prosperity of the economy can be leveraged to deal with chronic economic problems of long standing.
Unfortunately, although Biden has worked hard to convince voters that the economy is strong and that he deserves credit for presiding over solid economic gains—and that reelecting him as opposed to the guy who wants to dismantle everything and run the U.S. by ukase—polls show that most Americans still are, at best, hazy on one of Biden’s signature achievements, the Inflation Reduction Act. We can blame this on the mainstream media, which has done a miserable job of pointing to the game-changing impacts that are already taking place as IRA funding is invested in specific projects across the nation.
However, since we’re not going to remake or replace the media between now and November, it’s up to us to do their work, one brother-in-law, one cousin, one neighbor, one housemate or workmate at a time.
A terrific resource for the persuasion task is provided by the non-partisan Environmental Entrepreneurs at E2, founded in 2000, and partnered with the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the nation’s Big Green environmental advocates. E2’s 10,000 members operate in nine regional chapters across the nation to promote environmental and economic policies. As the organization noted in referencing a recent report:
[...] we are already benefitting from new jobs, new technologies and new companies produced in our growing clean energy economy. Maintaining that growth (in part through critical government programs), will allow us to continue to harness American ingenuity, and will ensure our private sector to take advantage of falling costs and breakthrough innovations to create a clean energy future with millions of new jobs, world-leading American companies, and a healthier environment.
The big numbers are suitably impressive. The IRA authorizes $370 billion in climate-related funding. But it’s the individual projects, the ones in people’s backyards or nearby, that offer the best opportunity to change minds. E2 lays those projects out, state by state, economic sector by sector, and the partisan make-up of states and districts receiving the IRA funding for them. A few clicks on the E2 website’s “Clean Economy Works” icon will provide details of each project. Here’s a taste:
Major Clean Energy Projects Since the Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act
Republicans have eagerly announced their determination to repeal or at least undermine IRA provisions. That makes some investors squeamish, according to Bob Keefe, E2’s executive director. He told Grist’s Syris Valentine: “Nobody’s going to want to invest in something if the policies that [are] driving it are under threat. I mean, just the mention of ‘threat’ is enough to spook people.”
As long as the government doesn’t “screw it up,” Keefe added, “we are quite literally on the cusp of the biggest economic revolution we’ve seen in this country in generations.”
We know all too well that facts aren’t going to convince everyone. There are lots of Americans who don’t want to be convinced. There are lots who would rather roll coal—politically and literally speaking—on anything that smacks of dealing with the climate crisis. But as we also know, a movement of a percentage point or two wins many elections. Your brother-in-law, your cousin, your neighbor, your workmate, your housemate can all be part of that movement with the right kind of nudging. Be a nudge.
