The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has proposed phasing out tax credits linked to climate policies stipulated in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. This, per the Committee, will raise some $6.5 billion.
The phaseout is part of the Republicans’ broader effort to roll back climate funding generously committed to various projects and initiatives by the previous federal government. Among the specific credits targeted are the incentive for EV purchases, tax credit for home energy efficiency improvements, and wind and solar subsidies, Reuters reported.
The report also noted a related proposal by the House Ways and Means panel about phasing out various tax incentives aiming to fuel the expansion of wind and solar energy, electric vehicles, and other transition technologies.
Naturally, the news sparked a strong reaction from the climate tech world. “While American businesses are demanding more energy to compete against our adversaries, and consumers are turning to clean energy to hedge against rising electricity prices, these proposals will undermine our nation’s efforts to achieve President Trump’s American energy dominance agenda,” the president of the Solar Energy Industries Association said in a statement.
“To make matters worse, this legislation is an attack on our individual liberties and freedom to choose how we power our homes. By effectively repealing the clean energy tax credit for homeowners, it rips consumer choice away from millions of hardworking Americans,” Abigail Ross Hopper also said.
On the other hand, the Committee’s chairman, Brett Guthrie, said in a WSJ op-ed that “This bill would claw back money headed for green boondoggles through “environmental and climate justice block grants” and other spending mechanisms through the Environmental Protection Agency and Energy Department. The legislation would reverse the most reckless parts of the engorged climate spending in the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act, returning $6.5 billion in unspent funds.”
Source: By Irina Slav from Oilprice.com