A group of lawmakers are urging colleagues not to neglect opportunities to pitch their biggest legislative achievements: the Inflation Reduction Act and bipartisan infrastructure law.
Staff for the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, a 90-member organization pushing for “policies that will address global climate change,” have prepared a 35-page “toolkit” on how to successfully message on these achievements during August recess.
The House is beginning recess a week early. During election years, the break from Washington becomes a de facto extended opportunity for members to campaign for reelection.
A main piece of advice was not to refer to the IRA by name — or acronym — and avoid wonky jargon like “net zero” and “1.5 Celsius.”
“Two years ago, Democrats passed the most ambitious clean energy investments ever — and our Clean Energy Plan is delivering for the American people,” reads an introduction to the memo, shared with POLITICO’s E&E News.
“All across the country, our Clean Energy Plan is mobilizing historic levels of private sector investments in the United States, bringing manufacturing back to America … creating new, good-paying jobs, and transforming communities in every corner of the United States,” the document continues. “Congress must defend, not defund these critical climate and clean energy investments.
“This August District Work Period is a great time for House Democrats to celebrate how these wins are delivering tangible benefits to their districts.”
The toolkit — which SEEC staff compiled with help from multiple sources, including the nonprofits Climate Power and Climate Action Campaign — comes as Democrats overwhelmingly say they should be boasting to voters about the historic bills they passed when their party controlled the House, Senate and White House.
It also lands as the larger party has been consumed with whether President Joe Biden should step aside at the top of the ticket. With his decision not to seek a second term, Vice President Kamala Harris is looking to ascend.
The Inflation Reduction Act in particular, which contains the largest federal climate investment ever, has led to an enormous clean energy manufacturing boom nationwide, including in red districts. It has put Republicans in an uncomfortable position of having to explain why they oppose a bill that has proven to be a massive job creator, a dynamic Democrats believe they should exploit.
But polling shows that messaging on the Inflation Reduction Act isn’t resonating with voters as strongly as Democrats feel it should be, and the party has generally struggled to show how the climate law’s provisions aren’t just about saving the planet but about putting more money back into pocketbooks, too. It’s especially true for some of the clean energy tax incentives that have yet to be fully implemented.
So the SEEC toolkit provides examples of events members can organize to highlight the Inflation Reduction Act’s more tangible gains. For instance, the memo says, Democrats might consider holding a “mini ribbon cutting with a homeowner who is going all-electric and has taken advantage of IRA incentives.”
They could “tour a water supply project” to emphasize the Inflation Reduction Act’s $550 million down payment toward helping front-line communities access reliably clean drinking water, or visit a national park impacted by wildfires to discuss how the Inflation Reduction Act includes money for wildfire mitigation efforts.
The memo also gives examples of specific campaign stops House Democrats have hosted in the past that have been especially successful.
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), for instance, joined with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to visit a house that had been outfitted with energy efficiency upgrades, for which the homeowner was due to receive rebates through an Inflation Reduction Act program.
And Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) held a press conference at an elementary school to announce that the Atlanta public school system had been awarded nearly $10 million to purchase 25 electric school buses thanks to the infrastructure law.
‘Do’s’ and ‘don’ts’
The document provides a glossary of the various programs the Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure law created and funded, how they work, and when they’ll go into effect — something of a cheat sheet lawmakers can use on the campaign trail.
It also provides resources for where lawmakers can find the projects in their districts and states that have benefited from the litany of programs created by or funded through those two laws.
Perhaps most significant, SEEC runs down a list of “do’s and don’ts” for how to message on the Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure law, including, critically, “don’t say ‘Inflation Reduction Act.’”
“Spell it out, talk like a human: regular people aren’t policy wonks,” the toolkit reads. “Connect using language they understand.”
Instead of talking in acronyms and bill titles, Democrats should say “Clean Energy PLAN,” “Affordable Energy PLAN” and “Climate PLAN.”
They should talk about “pollution,” “extreme weather” and “the hottest year on record,” while avoiding terms like “decarbonization,” “net zero” and “carbon footprint.”
Democrats should be careful of appearing as though they are endorsing a binary choice between continuing to burn fossil fuels and phasing out oil, gas and coal.
“Do say: More options for affordable energy that are made right here in the U.S., like wind and solar,” the SEEC memo urges. “Don’t say: That more clean energy options means less of something else. Refrain from using phrases like ‘phase out oil and gas industry.’ Talk about how making our energy 100% clean rather than eliminating an industry.”
The memo explains members should not “fall for the ‘we need to sacrifice’ trap. We don’t need to change our way of life, we need polluters to change theirs.”
Democrats can, for instance, “name villains, assign motive, use direct language: We aren’t fighting climate change. We are fighting the polluters who are causing climate change.”
It shows the extent to which climate communicators see the pratfalls of typical Democratic rhetoric on the environment, and the ways in which Republicans have been able to paint the other party as “radical.”
The memo ends with a series of posts members can borrow for their own social media accounts.
“Happy Anniversary, #InflationReductionAct!” one sample post reads. “This law is a key piece of @POTUS’s affordable clean energy plan and is already delivering results for [STATE/DISTRICT]. I look forward to celebrating AND defending these historic climate and clean energy investments. #ClimateWinsHere.”
