Politico: Biden-Harris ‘Climate cash floods swing states’ – Seven swing states receiving more than 40% of IRA’s ‘clean energy’ funding

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2024/10/16/climate-cash-floods-swing-states-do-voters-care-00183956

By ARIANNA SKIBELL

Swing states stand to lose more than most if former President Donald Trump wins the White House and makes good on his promise to claw back funding in the Democrats’ climate law.

The seven states that could decide November’s presidential election have attracted more than 40 percent of the clean energy manufacturing projects announced since the 2022 law was signed, writes Jean Chemnick.

But as Robin Bravender writes, it’s unclear whether that will make any difference to voters. With just three weeks to go until the Nov. 5 election, Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris are neck and neck in the polls in the battleground states of Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

“It’s really hard to draw a direct line between the stimulus spending and voters’ attitudes towards the election,” said David Wasserman, a senior editor and elections analyst for the Cook Political Report. “What’s striking to me is that Democrats didn’t gain much ground in the last several years by talking about their accomplishments on infrastructure or the Inflation Reduction Act in general.”

The IRA pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy, including in the form of loans and tax credits that have spurred a boom in domestic manufacturing. But almost 71 percent of Americans said they had heard little or nothing about the law, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll conducted in July. (Results from a POLITICO-Morning Consult poll in April were only slightly more positive.)

And Harris has largely avoided touting the administration’s historic climate investment on the campaign trail.