Former President Joe Biden never got political credit for the Inflation Reduction Act because voters didn’t know about it or were confused about who was driving the expansion of clean energy projects in their states.
Voters were more likely to credit their own governor for the construction of green energy facilities, according to a study published last month in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences.
Governors typically showed up for groundbreaking ceremonies at factories and new businesses, while White House officials were less likely to make the trip, the researchers found. Adding to the public’s confusion, businesses often credited both political parties for the funding, to avoid getting caught in partisan fights and to generate broader support.
In political terms, the IRA yielded “visibility without traceability,” said Alexander Gazmararian, the study’s lead author and a political science professor at the University of Michigan.
