Landmark US climate bill will do more harm than good, groups say

Bill makes concessions to the fossil fuel industry as frontline community groups call on Biden to declare climate emergency

The landmark climate legislation passed by the Senate after months of wrangling and weakening by fossil-fuel friendly Democrats will lead to more harm than good, according to frontline community groups who are calling on Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency.

If signed into law, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) would allocate $369bn to reduce America's greenhouse gas emissions and invest in renewable energy sources - a historic amount that scientists estimate will lead to net reductions of 40% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.