Hey there, it's the NPR Politics podcast. I'm Usma Khalid. And today on the show, we're

switching up the vibe of it. I'm here at the White House to interview Ali Zaddi. He's

the Biden administration's deputy national climate advisor. We know that climate is a top

priority for so many of our listeners. So we wanted you all to come along on the interview.

So Ali, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the podcast. We really appreciate

it. It's so good to be on with you.

So I want to start with this big piece of legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act. It

is the most significant investment to combat climate change in US history. By the year 2030,

it's expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions here in the US by 40% from 2005 levels. That

is almost to President Biden's 50%. But I actually want to ask you if we can step back

for a moment because so many of our listeners, I think, were curious about politically speaking

how this bill got over the finish line after looking dead so many times, specifically

when we talk about the climate pieces.

I think it's the durability of the coalition that backed this. I reflect back often to

around this time period in 2020. We're on Zoom sessions at the time because of the nature

of the campaign, the president and his white polo shirts on the front porch and his

Wilmington home. And talking through the tax policy, the investments, the loans, the

grants, but talking about how that was going to be designed in a way that brought together

labor and young people and rural and urban. I think he really crafted this to be responsive

to the coalition he wanted to bring together. And that's what made it stick.

So even with this legislation, it doesn't get you fully to the president's goal of that

50% that we had just mentioned. So help me understand, you know, how do you all get the

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