By dominating the headlines at this week’s Davos conference, Diplomatic grievances from Germany and European legislators were in a bind. The historic US climate bill passed last year ushered in a new era of geopolitics in one of the unprecedented global races to develop technologies that will save the planet.
America tops the list The cumulative amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere has increased since the industrial revolution, but we have lagged behind in reducing our dependence on the fossil fuels that heat the planet. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which was enacted into law last summer, despite its name, aims to quickly change the situation of lagging behind.
But the size of the U.S. economy and the unprecedented amount of subsidies the IRA provides to develop green industries mean European lawmakers have warned businesses could lose the continent’s investments, so they need to act.
As US numbers subside, officials from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the leaders of France and Germany are determined to match the incentives dangling by their biggest allies. It called for European-wide and country-specific industrial bills aimed at
“To maintain the attractiveness of European industry, we need to make it more competitive with offers and incentives,” von der Leyen said in a speech at Davos. “EU funding must also be strengthened.”
