Ready Or Not, Here Comes Climate Action

Significant climate action legislation is occurring at the US Federal level, as well as in Massachusetts and Maryland. The US Senate and House passed the Inflation Reduction Act, with $369 Billion in climate action. President Biden just signed it into law on Tuesday, 8/16. The bill will address greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy, electric vehicles, carbon sequestration and capture, and more.

In July, Massachusetts passed a sweeping climate bill that includes benchmarking language for buildings over 20,000-square-feet, huge energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals, and incentives for electric vehicles.

In April, Maryland enacted a mandate to end carbon emissions on a net basis economy-wide by mid-century, targeting electricity generation, building heating, and transportation. The package also incorporates environmental-justice provisions. Backers called it one of the country’s most aggressive climate change laws.

The MD Climate Solutions Now Act of 2022 contains significant provisions to decarbonize buildings and transportation. Measures to reduce building energy use could likely accelerate LED lighting retrofits.

EV incentives in the Federal, Massachusetts, and Maryland laws will all further spur the EV charger market, which a growing number of lighting manufacturers have jumped into. Last Fall’s Infrastructure Law also contained significant EV charging infrastructure incentives.

David Shiller

David Shiller is the Publisher of LightNOW, and Senior Business Development Consultant at Capacity Consulting, a North American consulting firm providing business development services to advanced lighting manufacturers. The ALA awarded David the Pillar of the Industry Award. David has been co-chair of the ALA’s Engineering Committee since 2010. David established MaxLite’s OEM component sales into a multi-million dollar division. He invented GU24 lamps while leading ENERGY STAR lighting programs for the US EPA. David has been published in leading lighting publications, including LD+A, enLIGHTenment Magazine, LEDs Magazine, and more.

See Full Bio