Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | December 12, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 25 A s we travel throughout Massachusetts, we're asked time and again about two of the most dramatic challenges facing our commonwealth: How do we address the clear and present danger of climate change, and how do we grow our economy to meet the challenges of the 21st century? For decades, our country's polit- ical and business leaders have been presented with a false choice: eco- nomic prosperity or environmental protection. e federal Inflation Reduction Act is proof it's time to retire this myth and replace it with a new truth–taking direct action on climate change. is is the shortest and best path to building a stronger, more competitive economy. Signed into law by President Joe Biden on Aug. 16, the Inflation Reduction Act is the largest action on climate change in the history of the United States. It's going to produce 9 million good-paying American jobs, lower energy prices for American families, and secure true energy security for generations to come. is bill creates a real path forward for the public and private sector to work together to pro- tect our planet and create quality jobs in every state. rough smart public investments and incentives, the Inflation Reduction Act brings $11.4 billion worth of large-scale clean power generation and storage to Mas- sachusetts from now until 2030. is will move us away from dependence on expensive, unreliable fossil fuels. It will generate unprecedented economic potential. Congressman McGovern fought at the federal level, and the Alliance for Business Leadership advocated at the state level, to pass impactful legislation like this because of what these policies will do for Massachusetts. By helping businesses invest in clean energy technology and giving our entrepreneurs the tools they need to lead the world in clean energy production, the Inflation Reduction Act will create more than 9,000 clean energy jobs in Massachu- setts over the next seven years, and 37,000 jobs by 2050. And the Inflation Reduction Act not only puts people to work, it lowers costs for small businesses and consum- ers. Massachusetts is home to 715,425 small businesses, and the Inflation Reduction Act will lower their costs through dramatic energy efficiency improvements. As advocates for both environmental protection and economic prosperity, we reject the idea that progress in one must come at the expense of the other. e Inflation Reduction Act shows us the way forward. Congressman Jim McGovern represents the 2nd District of Massachusetts, which includes Worcester. Jen Benson is the president of the Alliance for Business Leadership, focusing on corporate and civic leadership in climate change, transportation, and affordable housing. BY JIM MCGOVERN AND JEN BENSON Special to WBJ We don't have to choose between jobs and climate I t all sounds so simple. At the end of its 31-page report detailing the many, many ways the 80% spike in Worcester rental prices over the past seven years is impacting the economy, neighborhoods, and residents, the Worcester Regional Research Bureau laid out a series of recom- mendations on ways to improve the situation. One of the last lines summed it up nicely: "Concen- trating on raising household incomes, slowing cost- growth, addressing the concerns of the most vulnerable residents, and increasing the number of available units should go a long way to ensuring that Worcester's housing and economy remains strong in the future," WRRB wrote in the Dec. 12 report "Static Income, Ris- ing Costs: Renting in the Heart of the Commonwealth". e recommendations from the report, which was done in partnership with WBJ for this edition's "Redlining: An Economic Legacy" project, includes: • e city government adopting its proposed inclu- sionary zoning policy to have residential developers set aside some units for affording housing; • Using the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund to build more residential units; and • Increasing funding from $10 million to $30 million for Massachusetts' Housing Development Incentive Program to construct more housing in Gateway Cities. ese are all steps in the right direction, but as the WRRB summary illustrates, the real keys will be the much-larger, complex, and harder-to-define goals of paying people more, limiting the rise in their expenses, The above Editorial is the opinion of the WBJ Editorial Board. The Viewpoint column, the A Thousand Words cartoon, and the Word from the Web commentary represent the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of WBJ or its staff. WBJ welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Send them to bkane@wbjournal.com. A T H O U SA N D WO R D S B Y R A M Ó N L . S A N D O V A L Use measured progress to fix the rental crisis Jim McGovern and building more housing fitting their needs. All are complicated to achieve in a complicated world. Take the last one: Building more housing. New developments don't magically appear, at no cost. A developer – either an individual or a company – needs to arrange enough upfront money to take on a risky, years-long project where any number of things will go wrong. Currently, those problems include rising construction costs, a limited supply of labor, and a potential slowdown in the economy, which could weaken demand for new housing in a year or two. e finished development needs to generate enough revenue to cover those costs, as well as its ongoing expenses. Developers generally aren't super rich individuals who can just take a loss on a major project. Even if they are, they won't stay super rich if their projects repeatedly generate losses. Solutions like government money do help address these issues, but the real struggle is the effort to win over hearts and minds of businesspeople. New developments can generate profits without putting the squeeze to people. Rents can rise without forcing people from their homes. Rather than maximum profit, the goal should be striking the right balance between appropriate profits and keeping the overall community healthy and viable. Inclusionary zoning is little more than the government saying, "Take a little less profit on a handful of units so more people can afford to live in your development." at senti - ment is good for business in the long run. V I E W P O I N T E D I T O R I A L Jen Benson W W

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