“It’s unfathomable to us. Unfathomable. In the history of our union hall, 134 years, we’ve never even come close to these numbers.” Trent Mauk, a training specialist at the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) in Michigan, said these words to Washington Post reporter Jeff Stein just over a year ago.

Mauk was referring to the massive growth in membership the union experienced thanks to the construction of two new electric vehicle battery plants. These plants were a direct result of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed in 2022. Before the IRA, UA members had to travel for work and experienced long bouts of unemployment. After its implementation, their apprentice program jumped from fifty trainees to almost two hundred.

With its reputation as an ambitious climate bill, it’s easy to overlook the IRA’s role in creating opportunities for unions in the clean energy sector. The building trades, often unfairly portrayed as uniformly opposed to climate action, have seen a substantial number of real jobs materialize for their members. This has translated into more general political support for clean energy development.