US President Joe Biden signed his massive climate and health plan on Tuesday and passed it into law, in a move that gives Democrats a new impetus ahead of the midterm elections, in which the Republicans' odds of a landslide victory suddenly declined.
The text, which it called the "Inflation Reduction Act", was described by the White House as "the largest commitment to reduce climate change in the history of the United States," noting also that it "brings long-awaited changes to drug pricing, and makes the tax system more equitable with the adoption of a limit Lowest corporate tax.
On Friday, the US Congress approved, in a final vote, Biden's climate and health plan, which represents an important political victory for the president.
The Democrats pushed their small majority in the House of Representatives towards the approval of this plan, which is worth more than 430 billion dollars, after a similar vote in the Senate.
$370 billion for clean energy and climate
The legislation is the largest investment in US history in the fight against climate change.
Instead of seeking to punish the major polluters in the United States, the law introduces a series of financial incentives aimed at prodding the world's largest economy to abandon fossil fuels.
Producers and consumers of nuclear, wind and solar energy will be given tax exemptions.
This represents tax credits of up to $7,500 for each American who purchases an electric vehicle.
Anyone who chooses to install solar panels on their roof will be subsidized by covering 30 percent of the cost.
About $60 billion will also be allocated to industries related to clean energy, from wind turbines to processing minerals used in electric car batteries.
The same amount will also be allocated to programs aimed at helping increase investments in poorer communities, particularly by providing assistance in renovating homes to improve energy efficiency and access to less polluting transportation.
Huge investments will be allocated to reduce the possibility of forest fires and protect coastal areas from erosion factors caused by devastating cyclones.
The plan aims to help the United States reduce its carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels.
$64 billion for health care
The second most important aspect of the legislation is to help reduce inequality in access to health care across the United States, particularly by controlling very high prices for prescription drugs.
Under the new plan, Medicare (the national health insurance plan for people 65 and older or those on low incomes) will be allowed to negotiate prices for certain drugs directly with major manufacturers for the first time, which is likely to yield better deals for patients.
The plan states that drug companies will have to offer rebates on certain drugs if prices rise faster than high levels of inflation in the United States.
It also extends the benefits covered by Obamacare's Affordable Care Act until 2025.
Minimum corporate tax
In addition to these massive investments, the plan seeks to reduce the federal deficit by adopting a minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent for all companies with profits exceeding $1 billion.
The new tax is intended to prevent certain large corporations from using tax havens to pay much less than they theoretically owe.
It is estimated that the measure could generate more than $258 billion in tax revenues to the state treasury over the next ten years.
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