Latest news with #taxcredits
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Climate watch: Why Congress must not pull the plug on PA's clean energy progress
On May 22, the House of Representatives voted to pass a budget bill that drastically cuts America's clean energy tax credits. I'm disappointed to see that the House advanced this legislation. Make no mistake: These cuts will hurt Pennsylvania if they go on to become law. Experts are already warning that these changes would raise energy costs for American households, increase pollution, and threaten growing economic investments in the commonwealth. The House passage of this bill just put these investments at risk. Federal tax credits — designed to boost clean energy manufacturing in the U.S. — have been working. Since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in 2022, Pennsylvania has benefited from just under $3.5 billion in investments in 34 clean energy projects to create more than 7,900 jobs. That's according to an analysis by Citizens' Climate Lobby. An outsized chunk of that investment is in the state's 15th Congressional District, represented in Congress by Glenn Thompson. Nine projects — eight solar and one for electric transmission lines — have spurred $1.7 billion in investments in PA15 with an estimated 2,550 jobs to be created. The tax credits were passed by Democrats, so they have been an easy target for Republican attacks. But the legislation has overwhelmingly benefited Republican-held districts — 78% of the funding has gone to rural and suburban areas held by the GOP. That success story, however, could unravel quickly. The legislation is now in the Senate's hands, and the House passage has set them on a path toward drastic cuts. If the cuts become law, energy prices will rise. Manufacturing will slow. Phasing out tax credits that support clean energy manufacturing will jeopardize long-term projects. Eliminating clean vehicle tax credits could put up to 100% of planned EV plant construction and a significant portion of existing capacity at risk, according to industry analysis. Households and local businesses will take a huge hit. A rollback of tax credits for home energy upgrades such as rooftop solar is a blow to Pennsylvanians who've been using these tools to cut energy bills. Incentives have made it easier for homeowners to install solar panels, save money, and even help stabilize America's power grid. But those benefits — and the local businesses that depend on them — are in jeopardy if Congress moves forward with these cuts. By contrast, if Congress protects clean energy tax credits, it would be a giant boost to the commonwealth's economy over the next decade. Analysis by American Clean Power and ICF estimates that continuing clean energy incentives will be a $65 billion economic boost to our state in the next 10 years and support more than 35,000 in full-time jobs in Pennsylvania annually. Encouragingly, a growing number of Republican members of Congress are vocalizing their support for the clean energy tax credits. Four Republican Senators recently sent a letter to leadership last month saying repeal would 'lead to significant disruptions for the American people and weaken our position as a global energy leader.' The numbers are clear: clean energy tax credits work for Pennsylvania. Undoing them now — as the House just voted to do — would be reckless and harmful. I urge Senators David McCormick and John Fetterman to work with their colleagues in the Senate to protect these tax credits. Lisa Richardson is co-leader of the State College chapter of Citizens' Climate Lobby.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Conservative group targets Utah Sen. Curtis over support for clean energy tax credits
The conservative Club for Growth is targeting Utah Sen. John Curtis over his support for clean energy tax credits, raising the stakes for Republican leaders as they scramble to pass their massive tax reconciliation bill. The fiscally conservative group will launch an ad series this weekend targeting a handful of GOP lawmakers over their policy stances at odds with President Donald Trump's massive budget framework. The ad taking aim at Curtis specifically focuses on his support for preserving some green energy tax incentives passed under the Biden administration through the Inflation Reduction Act. 'Republicans were elected up and down the ballot in 2024 to reverse disastrous Biden policies — not protect them,' said Club for Growth President David McIntosh. 'If the tax cut bill fails because John Curtis is against it in order to protect Biden giveaways, every family in Utah will be hit with the largest tax increase in history. We are confident his constituents in Utah will remind Sen. Curtis how misguided his approach is.' The 30-second ad, which will run statewide beginning on Sunday, claims Curtis is threatening Trump's plans to reverse former President Joe Biden's signature climate policies. The commercial specifically refers to the 1,038-page megabill making its way through Congress seeking to advance Trump's policies on the border, energy production, national defense and more. The budget resolution also contains extensions for a slew of tax cuts set to expire at the end of this year. The budget package greenlights about $4.5 trillion to extend the tax cuts previously approved in Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and make them permanent. To offset those costs, lawmakers must find at least $1.5 trillion in spending cuts elsewhere. However, internal disagreements on where to cut spending has delayed progress on the bill as some Republicans push for deep cuts while others caution against them. One of the most controversial provisions tucked into the budget resolution is language repealing clean energy tax credits that were passed under the Biden administration with only Democratic support. Curtis is among those pushing to preserve some of those policies, particularly those dealing with nuclear energy, net-zero emissions, battery storage and more. The first-term senator has long centered his climate policies on clean energy solutions, suggesting earlier this week he will push for those changes as the Senate considers the bill. 'We must build a thoughtful, principled bill that doesn't pull the rug out from under American innovators,' a spokesperson for Curtis told the Deseret News. 'Doing otherwise risks freezing investment, delaying domestic production, increasing costs, and forfeiting our energy edge and national security to China and Russia.' The Club for Growth has previously targeted Curtis, spending millions of dollars on ad campaigns claiming the Utah senator is not conservative enough. But Curtis contends those big-money efforts by national groups have only boosted his message — arguing his victories over the last eight years have been a result of Utah voters rejecting out-of-state meddling in local elections. The ad campaign targets other Republicans who have threatened to vote against Trump's megabill, such as New York Reps. Mike Lawler and Nick LaLota, who pushed for expansions to federal deductions for state and local taxes paid, also known as SALT. While LaLota and Lawler have outright said they would vote against the reconciliation package if it didn't include those demands, Curtis has so far stopped short of saying he would reject the budget framework if it nixed green energy credits. Still, the Utah senator said he would fight to include them in the final bill. 'I think if I have anything to say about it, I'll make sure that we're taking into account our energy future,' Curtis said earlier this week.
E&E News
4 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
Musk, Tesla blast GOP plans to end clean energy tax credits
Tesla late Wednesday criticized the Republican megabill for gutting clean energy tax credits, a message amplified by CEO Elon Musk hours after he announced he was leaving the Trump administration. 'Abruptly ending the energy tax credits would threaten America's energy independence and the reliability of our grid,' Tesla Energy, the company's solar and battery division, wrote on X. The House-passed reconciliation package would repeal the Inflation Reduction Act's residential solar credit at the end of the year and rapidly phase down the clean electricity investment credit for all forms of generation except nuclear, disqualifying all but a few shovel-ready projects. Advertisement The bill would also terminate most credits for electric vehicles at the end of the year, disqualifying Teslas from a $7,500 incentive at a time when the company is experiencing declining sales and a backlash linked to Musk's actions to gut the federal workforce.
Reuters
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
Ford executive says loss of federal funding could 'imperil' battery factory
DETROIT, May 29 (Reuters) - Ford (F.N), opens new tab Executive Chair Bill Ford on Thursday sounded the alarm on the potential for Washington to do away with production tax credits that support the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries. The disappearnce of the credits would threaten Ford's investment in a Marshall, Michigan, plant. "If it doesn't stay, it will imperil what we do in Marshall," Ford said at a policy conference in the state. 'We made a certain investment based upon a policy that was in place. It's not fair to change policies after all the expenditure has been made,' he said.
Fast Company
4 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
$14 billion in U.S. clean energy projects have been canceled or delayed this year
More than $14 billion in clean energy investments in the U.S. have been canceled or delayed this year, according to an analysis released Thursday, as President Donald Trump's pending megabill has raised fears over the future of domestic battery, electric vehicle and solar and wind energy development. Many companies are concerned that investments will be in jeopardy amid House Republicans' passage of a tax bill that would gut clean energy credits, nonpartisan group E2 said in its analysis of projects that it and consultancy Atlas Public Policy tracked. The groups estimate the losses since January have also cost 10,000 new clean energy jobs. The tax credits, bolstered in the landmark climate bill passed under former President Joe Biden in 2022, are crucial for boosting renewable technologies key to the clean energy transition. E2 estimates that $132 billion in plans have been announced since the so-called Inflation Reduction Act passed, not counting the cancellations. Last week's House bill effectively renders moot many of the law's incentives. Advocacy groups decried the potential impact that could have on the industry after the multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package passed. 'The House's plan coupled with the administration's focus on stomping out clean energy and returning us to a country powered by coal and gas guzzlers is causing businesses to cancel plans, delay their plans and take their money and jobs to other countries instead,' E2 executive director Bob Keefe said. The Senate is now reviewing the bill with an informal July 4 deadline to get it to the president's desk. What has been canceled Some of the most recent cancellations include the Kore Power battery factory in Arizona and BorgWarner's closure of two EV manufacturing sites in Michigan. Bosch suspended a $200 million investment in a hydrogen fuel cell factory in South Carolina, citing changes within the market over the past year in a statement to The Associated Press. Tariffs, inflationary pressures, nascent company struggles and low adoption rates for some technologies may also have been reasons for these companies' plans changing. For instance, the battery storage and electric vehicle sectors have seen the most impact in 2025, with the latter especially having had had a difficult past few years. Several projects spurred by the IRA were also canceled prior to 2025. Of the projects canceled this year, most — more than $12 billion worth — came in Republican-led states and congressional districts, the analysis said. Red districts have benefited more than blue ones from an influx of clean energy development and jobs, experts say. Georgia and Tennessee are particularly at risk because they are highly invested in EV and battery production, said Marilyn Brown, an energy policy professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology who was not involved in the analysis. 'If all of a sudden these tax credits are removed, I'm not sure how these ongoing projects are going to continue,' said Fengqi You, an engineering professor at Cornell University who also was not involved. A handful of Republican lawmakers have urged the continuation of energy tax credits, with some saying in an April letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. that a repeal could disrupt the American people and weaken the county's position as a global energy leader. The US and the global stage The Trump administration has sought to dismantle much of Biden's environmental and climate-related policy — what he calls the Democrats' 'green new scam' — withdrawing again from the Paris climate agreement, rolling back countless landmark pollution regulations and environmental initiatives, reconsidering scientific findings supporting climate action, blocking renewable energy sources and more in an effort to bolster a fossil fuel-led 'American energy dominance' agenda. Meanwhile other countries are proceeding with green investments. The European Parliament is committing to the European Union Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a policy meant to prevent 'carbon leakage,' or companies moving production to countries where climate policies are less strict. And the International Maritime Organization is moving toward a global carbon tax on shipping. In a sign that not all hope is lost for the future of renewables in the U.S., April alone saw nearly $500 million in new development, with Japanese manufacturing company Hitachi's energy arm building out transmission and electrification operations in Virginia and materials and technology company Corning investing in solar manufacturing in Michigan.
