John Smilie will present a citizen-friendly program on how the recent passage of the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) affects Montgomery County and in Indiana at large at noon Friday on the third floor of Fusion 54.
The public is invited to bring a brown bag lunch and drink to the event. Smilie will address how local governments, businesses, non-profits and citizens stand to benefit from this sweeping new bill.
Smilie, a concerned member of the community with a young family, is dedicated to learning as much as he can about shared energy. He is widely and deeply knowledgeable about alternative energies and studies their performance. Several of local non-profits and individuals have already benefited significantly from his efforts to help the public and those who serve the public understand our changing energy situation in the 21st century. Smilie’s work is in the public interest and is not tied to any business nor political position or party.
Describing his program, Smilie notes that “climate change is the biggest issue facing humanity, and the U.S. federal government has made history by passing the most significant climate bill in history, the Inflation Reduction Act. It will help the U.S. shift to a clean energy economy via 369 billion dollars of investment in infrastructure.”
Recent reporting and analysis has shown that so-called “red” states like Indiana actually stand to benefit more from this bill economically than the so-called “blue” states who first promoted this bill. Smilie will talk about the provisions of the bill and how they address climate change and air pollution. He will also show the audience what “climate change has to do with inflation in the first place.”
The benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act accrue not only to states, municipalities and counties but “many of the provisions provide credits directly to households, as well as to nonprofits and local governments.”
Smilie will put special emphasis in his presentation on those provisions “so people know how to tap into the credits to save money and make their home energy use cleaner and more efficient.”
In the second half of this presentation, Smilie will discuss solar power in Montgomery County and how it is rolling out in the state of Indiana. He plans to discuss the benefits (savings, pollution reduction, local tax revenue) and bust some of the myths surrounding solar.
Lunch with the League is a program of the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County. For decades this event has been a regular place where citizens can come and know they will receive important information on public issues presented in a non-partisan way.
After over 25 years of in-person public service, Lunch with the League went online during 2020 and presented a full year of programming. It went briefly live on social media in 2021. Now organizers are glad to be welcoming back the in-person version of Lunch with the League. Its coordinators will plan monthly programs throughout the year.
