US Investment In Green Energy Remains Tiny

Facebook Tweet LinkedIn

Despite a huge push by the federal government, investments in green technology remain extremely small. According to a new report, “Clean Investment Monitor: Tallying the Two-Year Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act,” “The investments in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions-reducing technologies tracked over the past two years accounted for 4.5% of total US private investment in structures, equipment, and durable consumer goods in the United States.”

In other words, from the second half of 2022 through the first half of 2024, business and consumer investment totaled $493 billion, a 71% surge from the two-year period preceding the legislation. The legislation mentioned is the Inflation Reduction Act.

Although it is apples and oranges, according to the Sierra Club, in 2023, the investment in fossil fuels from just six banks was $1.8 billion from the date of the Paris Accords in 2016. “Since the Paris Agreement, from 2016 – 2023, the world’s 60 largest private banks financed fossil fuels with USD $6.9 trillion, with U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley accounting for over $1.8 trillion.” That does not include most private investment or money raised in the capital markets, primarily by public companies.

This is yet another example of how difficult it is to build green energy infrastructure. The risks are considered high. Ironically, as energy needs have risen, particularly for electricity, the need for fossil fuels like coal has risen.

Green is hard to fund, even with government help.