Consortium Statement on Protecting the Inflation Reduction Act

The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, representing 700k physicians around the country, reaffirms the climate and health benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act and believes it is important to protect the existing tax credits to facilitate a quicker transition to cleaner forms of energy. Transitioning to cleaner forms of energy has immediate health benefits by decreasing air pollution, particularly for children, pregnant individuals, the elderly, and those with chronic medical conditions.

These credits are currently under threat and being turned into collateral damage over the debt limit negotiations. The debt limit has been raised, extended, or revised 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents. The current debate recklessly politicizes the debt ceiling and threatens to, in addition to stymying hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector investment in a clean energy economy, strip 1.7 million women and children of vital nutrition assistance through Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women and Infants and Children (WIC) and eliminate the Housing Choice Vouchers program which would hurt 190k households headed by seniors. Protecting our patients’ and communities’ health and the health of our planet should be non-negotiable.