One year after a major federal climate bill was passed, Illinois is making progress in the battle against climate change thanks to an influx of clean energy investments.

When the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law last August, it unleashed a stream of clean energy projects from Illinois companies. One example is Deerfield’s LanzaJet, which is tapping the IRA’s tax credits and aviation grants to make sustainable, ethanol-based aviation fuel, which can lower carbon emissions, create jobs, improve energy security and help establish America’s leadership in this new industry.

The IRA works in concert with Illinois clean energy programs that provide incentives and tax credits, including the Reimagining Energy and Vehicles in Illinois program and the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, signed into law in 2021, which charts a path to 100% carbon-free energy by 2045.

By offering some of the most competitive incentive programs in the country for manufacturers in the electric vehicle, renewable energy and chips manufacturing sectors, Illinois is well positioned to embrace the fight to reduce climate pollution. In just one year, federal and state policies to support a clean energy transition have helped bring forward projects that help lower fossil fuel emissions and create jobs.

Manner Polymers announced in June a $54 million investment in its facility in Mount Vernon to manufacture a variety of materials for use in electric vehicles and solar panels. TCCI Manufacturing of Decatur broke ground on a $45 million project that will support EV manufacturing research and worker training, a project that will take advantage of the state’s vehicle and energy incentives program. And in Chicago, Verde Energy Efficiency Experts, which demonstrated a large-scale building electrification project in Oak Park, will use IRA funding and incentives to accelerate decarbonizing older Illinois buildings with very high efficiency HVAC systems that incorporate heat pumps to reduce energy use by 50% or more in commercial buildings.

In the past year, Illinois added 3,773 clean energy jobs, excluding traditional transmission and distribution jobs that favor fossil fuels, bringing the total to 126,806 — a 3.1% increase, according to the 2023 U.S. Energy & Employment Report from the U.S. Energy Department.

These investments and the good jobs they generate are vital to successfully transitioning to a clean energy economy.

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Yet we remain committed to advocating for a carbon fee and dividend plan to drive energy innovation and give every American community access to abundant, affordable clean energy at a predictable price. And by including a carbon border adjustment, the U.S. can level the playing field for American-made products competing with imports that have not faced the additional cost of a carbon price in their country of origin.

Like many parts of the U.S., Chicago has not escaped this summer’s climate extremes. The historic rainfall in early July damaged homes and residential buildings throughout the city as up to 8 inches of rain fell in 12 hours, flooding more than 12,000 basements, according to city officials.

While such climate events can be overwhelming, the good news is the U.S. is rapidly embracing tangible solutions to reduce the heat-trapping carbon emissions that damage our climate.

With an election year around the corner, it may be tempting to play politics around climate issues, but any efforts to roll back or redirect critical climate investments would be ill-advised. Voters like us want — and expect — these benefits to continue to flow into Illinois and across the land.

At the very least, the climate policy progress we have already made must remain intact.

As our legislators look to the future, they should continue to ramp up our clean energy efforts, meeting the moment to reduce climate pollution while bringing good jobs and real-world benefits to the people of Illinois.

Joe Tedino, a marketing communications consultant, is a volunteer with the Chicago chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Mark Reynolds is executive director of Citizens’ Climate Lobby.

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