The “big, beautiful bill" passed by the GOP-controlled House created a “nonsensical energy strategy” that will “undermine many of their own goals,” according to an expert.
And now a New York Times guest essay is calling on the Senate to stop it.
The spending bill allegedly “guts the clean-energy tax credits established in the Inflation Reduction Act to fund tax cuts that would largely benefit high-earning households,” Robinson Meyer, a contributing Opinion writer and the founding executive editor of Heatmap, a media company focused on clean energy and climate change, wrote.
“I understand why they’ve been frustrated with Democrats’ sometimes contradictory energy policy. Too often, state and local progressives have called for climate action, but then fought off, shut down or lamented the energy sources — especially hydroelectricity and nuclear power,” Meyer said.
"But Republicans are now the ones pursuing a nonsensical energy strategy.”
Tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act support any new power plant that doesn’t generate greenhouse gas emissions. Meyer explained, “That means technologies that Republicans like, including nuclear fission, geothermal power and even nuclear fusion, could benefit.”
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The writer claimed that by eliminating these credits, “in such a ramshackle and disorganized way, Republicans would undermine many of their own goals. Senate Republicans can still salvage a sensible energy policy from the House’s mad dash.”
There are three things Meyer would like to see for green energy in this bill. “First, they should preserve tax credits that support innovation and recognize the fact that the United States is currently seeding the next generation of world-leading energy technologies.”
Second, Meyer would like “Republican senators should pay particular attention to the risk of a coming electricity and energy price shock.”
“Finally, Republican senators should be careful not to pull the rug out from under electric vehicle factories that have set up shop in their states.” Meyer claimed this is essential because currently the Senate has “mostly left the supply-side subsidies for E.V. and battery manufacturing in place, although they have still made them harder to access.”
“President Trump understands the importance of cheap electricity,” Meyer wrote. “Now his policies risk making energy much more expensive while surrendering any leadership in energy technology whatsoever. It is time for senators to act responsibly — to set a long-term strategy for the country’s energy future.”
The editor added, “Senate Republicans understand that energy abundance is the essential input for the economy, national security, and America’s well-being. Now they must act — and save us from the idiocy that would otherwise result.”