BlueGreen Alliance lays out roadmap for increasing private investment in manufacturing, which has grown 71% since passage of Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 has proven to be a significant economic driver, stimulating job growth, an investment frenzy in new manufacturing facilities, and rapid growth in solar capacity.
The BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of some of the nation’s largest labor unions and environmental organizations, released its 2025 Manufacturing Roadmap that highlights the progress made in domestic manufacturing and recommends actions to secure continuation of the solar manufacturing renaissance.
The incredible growth in new manufacturing was kickstarted by federal action such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the CHIPS and Science Act. The roadmap finds that the IRA became law, private investment in U.S. manufacturing has totaled $493 billion since 2023, a 71% increase from the two-year period preceding the passage of the law.
“Over the past four years, our nation finally implemented a much-needed industrial policy, growing our manufacturing sector and widening access to good, union jobs,” said United Steelworkers (USW) International President David McCall. “Now, the federal government, industry, and unions must once again come together to capitalize on this momentum as we continue to build out our critical supply chains and reinvest in our communities.”
In addition, the Alliance finds that since passage of the three key federal policies, manufacturing jobs have skyrocketed. As of December 2024, the Alliance states that nearly 13 million manufacturing workers in the United States, “marking not just recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic but also growth.”
Manufacturing accounts for one-third of U.S. economic output and more than two-thirds of private sector research and development (R&D) the Alliance states, noting that R& D is required to remain competitive in a global economy.
Clean energy deployment is also increasing the demand for steel, aluminum, and cement, which serve as essential inputs for solar, wind, and battery supply chains. “It is imperative that the Trump administration and Congress continue to support our industrial sector to ensure its prosperity,” the roadmap states.
The Alliance recommends the following to keep the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing:
- Manufacturing is capital intensive and requires long time horizons for investment decisions. Individual projects often rely on several different forms of debt and equity financing including critical funding from the government.14 In a time of elevated interest rates, government funding can be the difference between projects penciling out or ceasing production.
- The United States was once the world leader in manufacturing solar panels and semiconductors. Recent efforts by policymakers have made progress in reshoring those supply chains, but it also demonstrates the difficulty of reshoring manufacturing once it has been lost. If the United States repeals policies supporting its emerging clean technology sectors, such as batteries, it could permanently lose its ability to produce those technologies.
- The industrial sector represents a large and growing share of emissions and is on pace to become the highest emitting sector by the early 2030s. The Alliance states that “regardless of the United States’ own position on reducing emissions, countries are increasingly looking for policies to penalize higher carbon emissions from industry.”
- Productivity growth fueled by technical innovation is the basis for long term competitive success. Manufacturing productivity in the United States has undergone a slowdown in the last decade for both established and emerging industries. Reversing this trend is important for staying internationally competitive. The Alliance says that key to improving productivity growth will be sustained investment and collaboration with the federal government on R&D priorities.
- Energy is one of the most costly and essential inputs into the production process. Studies have consistently shown that funding from the IRA will bring down energy costs in the United States over the next decade, the Alliance says. Removing those incentives will increase the amount manufacturers will need to pay for energy and make them less competitive internationally.
The 2025 roadmap contains six updated recommendations from its 2020 report that aim to increase investment and promote economic competitiveness of the manufacturing sector while building on the momentum of the past four years:
- Sustain the manufacturing revival that federal action has put in motion;
- Promote new investments for clean technology manufacturing and industrial transformation;
- Ensure manufacturing jobs are good jobs;
- Incorporate full and intentional utilization of the federal government’s procurement tools;
- Utilize U.S. trade policy to support manufacturing competitiveness and emissions reduction; and,
- Develop a national strategy for responsible mining and critical minerals.
The Roadmap lays out the need for continued funding of tax credits including the 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credit, the 48C Advanced Energy Project Investment Tax Credit, the Section 48E and 45Y technology neutral clean energy tax credits and the 30D Clean Vehicle Tax Credit.
According to the Alliance, the 48C Advanced Energy Project Investment Tax Credit provided $10 billion for investments in clean technology manufacturing and industrial decarbonization, including $4 billion set aside for coal communities. Over 200 projects have already been announced, providing billions of dollars of additional private sector investment.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimates that Section 48E and 45Y technology neutral clean energy tax credits are expected to save U.S. families up to $38 billion on electricity bills through 2030.
In addition to ensuring continuation of tax credits, the Alliance sites load growth as a challenge that requires planning on the part of utilities, grid operators, and power marketing administrations (PMAs).
“We’re making things in America again because of historic federal investments passed during the last administration,” said BlueGreen Alliance Executive Director Jason Walsh. “Federal investments have already begun to deliver the manufacturing revitalization we’ve needed for decades. If President Trump wants to help domestic manufacturing like he claims, he needs to let these transformative economic policies build a clean economy where everyone succeeds, not just billionaires.”
