Deep decarbonization of chemical manufacturing is a critical part of broader economy-wide decarbonization efforts but has received little attention compared to other energy-intensive sectors, presumably because of its complexity, multi-product nature, and pivotal role in regional economies and associated employment implications. In this article, we identify the key barriers and opportunities for leveraging emissions reduction efforts in the power sector to decarbonize chemical manufacturing via four alternative electrification strategies at varying technology readiness levels. These strategies range from commercially available (electrical heating and electrolytic hydrogen) solutions with large technical and cost uncertainties (electrochemical and plasma pathways). While R&D and deployment to advance these electrodecarbonization solutions must be actively pursued, other institutional barriers also need to be addressed to enable the adoption of these technologies at scale to reduce the industry's emissions impact even as demand for chemical products continues to grow. First, a major barrier to implementing new processes in the industry is the inertia of the chemical industry to transform itself. The global chemical industry has been built up over the past century, accumulating a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure that supports large chemical plants based on reliable and robust processes that have been scaled and de-risked over several decades. Companies may not abandon known technologies and large capital investments made in chemical plants, especially when they are early in their operational lifetime. Two related challenges are to (i) identify and deploy, in the short term, technical solutions, including some highlighted above, to mitigate emissions from existing chemical plants without sacrificing performance, and, in the intermediate term, (ii) develop a new generation of chemical plants powered entirely by electrical and renewable inputs and enable step-change benefits in cost and functionality compared to conventional plants. Second, the industry workforce, ranging from recent graduates, plant operators, and senior leaders, may not have the experience and knowledge of concepts related to power grids, electrochemistry, and plasma science, since, historically, these have not been part of the undergraduate level chemical engineering, materials science and engineering and chemistry curriculums. Therefore, workforce training at all levels of the industry is required hand-in-hand with technology development and de-risking to increase the chances that the industry adopts these processes. Overcoming these technical and workforce development barriers will require large, concerted efforts between government, industry, and academia and a clear legislative framework that establishes a path toward decarbonizing all industry sectors. Otherwise, emissions from the chemical industry will continue to grow, fueling more intense climate impacts in the decades to come.