This letter was submitted by Savannah Mayor Van Johnson.
Last week, Gov. Brian Kemp delivered his “State of the State” address, in which he lauded the 171,000 new jobs and $74.5 billion in investment Georgia has seen in the past five years. This week, he doubled down, claiming the Inflation Reduction Act — the most significant climate legislation in our nation’s history — has “hurt” Georgia more than it’s helped our state.
The evidence clearly suggests otherwise as this money did not come out of thin air. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will bring an estimated $180 million of investment in clean power generation and storage to Georgia between now and 2030. As of last fall, the IRA had created over 19,000 good-paying jobs and led to $21 billion in investment in Georgia in just over a year, according to the organization, Climate Power.
For example, Hyundai is building a $4.3 billion plant here in the Savannah area with LG, which is slated to bring 3,000 jobs to our area. And just this month, South Korean company Qcells announced a plan to supply Microsoft with solar power through panels made at its $2.5 billion factory; an American-made solar panel deal termed “one of the largest of its kind” happening right here in our state.