US senator stuns with politically risky opinion piece in local newspaper: 'It's time for Congress to act'
The junior U.S. senator for Utah has turned heads with a surprising op-ed in favor of retaining some Biden-era renewable-energy tax credits.
Writing in Deseret News, John Curtis urged his Republican colleagues not to "pull the rug out from under American innovators" who "have already made billions in long-term investments based on these policies."
When then-President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in 2022, it included the U.S. government's largest-ever investment in clean-energy technology, according to law firm Baker Tilly. The law contained billions of dollars in tax credits and other incentives aimed at spurring investment in everything from massive renewable-energy power plants to electric vehicles.
Now these programs are under threat as Congress considers President Donald Trump's so-called "Big Beautiful Bill," a version of which has passed the House of Representatives and is under consideration by the Senate.
Under the version passed by the Republican-led House, the investment in America's renewable-energy future has been significantly curtailed. Gone at the end of 2025 would be the IRA's Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit, tax credits for clean vehicles, and a number of tax credits aimed at making homes more energy efficient, according to law firm Pierson Ferdinand.
The programs originally were scheduled to last at least until 2032.
This context makes the timing of Senator Curtis' op-ed all the more significant.
"Some conservatives understandably want to end the energy tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act," Curtis wrote. "But we must be wise — we simply cannot afford to treat good policy ideas as guilty by political association."
Curtis has long had an open mind about money-saving, efficient appliances, not falling into the trap of letting them be politicized; in 2023, he showed The Cool Down some of the ones he installed in his own home, including solar panels and top-tier insulation.
The IRA represented a historic investment in transitioning our energy economy away from dirty fuels such as oil, coal, and gas that release heat-trapping pollution and toward a renewable-energy future.
While the impact of many IRA-based investments, such as those in clean-energy power plants, would not be felt for years, others, such as the consumer tax credits, were having an immediate impact.
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Per the IRS, under the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credit, homeowners can recover 30% of the cost of installing energy-saving windows, exterior doors, and skylights, up to $1,200 annually. The same goes for the cost of new, energy-efficient central air conditioners, water heaters, furnaces, boilers, and heat pumps.
Similarly, the IRA's clean vehicle tax credits allow individuals to recover up to $7,500 on the cost of a new electric vehicle or up to $4,000 on a used EV.
These tax credits have saved everyday Americans thousands of dollars, allowing families to upgrade their homes and vehicles while also reducing the amount of planet-warming pollution entering the atmosphere.
Under the version of Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" passed by the House of Representatives, all of these incentives would go away at the end of the year.
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But the amounts have dwindled; the bank gave nothing specifically to the pope in 2023, despite registering a net profit of 30 million euros ($34.2 million), according to its financial statements. The governorate's giving has likewise dropped off. Some Vatican officials ask how the Holy See can credibly ask donors to be more generous when its own institutions are holding back. Leo will need to attract donations from outside the U.S., no small task given the different culture of philanthropy, said the Rev. Robert Gahl, director of the Church Management Program at Catholic University of America's business school. He noted that in Europe there is much less of a tradition (and tax advantage) of individual philanthropy, with corporations and government entities doing most of the donating or allocating designated tax dollars. 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