Climate, Tariffs and Rural Impact

Since the 2024 election, challenges have intensified for climate advocates. The Trump administration has frozen billions in unspent Inflation Reduction Act funds – the infrastructure bill that helps the U.S. reduce carbon – targeted EPA grants like the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and proposed tariffs that could raise clean technology costs by 25 percent or more.

With the actions meant to roll back progress during the previous administration, we reached out to John Smilie, climate chair for the League of Women Voters MoCo.

Smilie notes that these moves disproportionately harm rural communities that rely on propane or fuel oil, where heat pumps and solar offer the greatest savings. Legal battles over federal climate grants and tax credits now dominate the landscape, with Smilie emphasizing that policy preservation is our immediate fight—without the IRA’s clean energy incentives, even basic payback calculations collapse.

Smilie, a corporate finance professional turned climate advocate, exemplifies how individual action and policy advocacy can drive meaningful environmental progress. Smilie has leveraged his financial expertise to advance community-level climate solutions while navigating growing political headwinds. His work underscores both the potential of grassroots mobilization and the urgent need to defend existing climate policies amid federal rollbacks.

Smilie’s climate activism began in 2019 when he joined Citizens’ Climate Lobby, spurred by mounting concern about the data on climate deterioration and his wife’s encouragement. His corporate finance background proved invaluable. He analyzed energy savings from home retrofits, calculated solar panel payback periods for nonprofits and crafted advocacy grounded in economic logic. After insulating his 1910s-era home and installing a heat pump, Smilie reduced his household gas use by 80 percent and inspired others through data-driven social media updates. When his own roof proved unsuitable for solar, he funded solar installations for three local nonprofits – including the Montgomery County Youth Service Bureau, the Big Brothers Big Sisters Club and the Montgomery County Free Clinic – using Inflation Reduction Act tax credits.

Smilie advocates a multi-pronged approach to counter federal setbacks. First, we can mobilize in mutual support by simply recruiting 15 to 20 supporters to attend local zoning meetings, which can outweigh opposition to renewable projects. Second, we can call our representatives, write personal emails and letters or visit with our representatives about Indiana’s HB 1007, which props up coal plants, highlighting the need to lobby state legislators for clean energy standards. Third, Simile says that now is the time for consumer action. Purchase your heat pump water heater, EVs and heat pump HVAC systems (if your system is ready to be replaced). He notes that tariffs, along with uncertainty about further tariff increases, have raised prices, but rebates have not yet been repealed. While there is not a lot of action to take regarding lawsuits to release frozen IRA funds – such as the $20 billion green bank program – these are critical to maintaining momentum.

Smilie’s work illustrates these principles: Solar projects on the three local nonprofits have cut their energy bills, while LED upgrades at the Carnegie Museum save 4.5 MWh annually — equivalent to powering half a home. Nationally, the IRA has already spurred $352 billion in clean energy investments and 271,000 new jobs since 2022.

As Smilie asserts, “Action is the antidote to anxiety.” In an era of political volatility, combining personal responsibility with persistent policy advocacy offers the clearest path forward.

The $369 billion IRA laid the groundwork to meet 2030 emissions targets, but it and all other protective, preventative actions are under assault. For every community leader like Smilie, a dozen more are needed to lead with localized wins, and those are the start to counter the cost of inaction – measured in economic losses, health impacts and ecological collapse.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan, multi-issue political organization which encourages informed and active participation in government. For information about the League, visit the website www.lwvmontcoin.org; or, visit the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, Indiana Facebook page.