LWVAC is launching a "What You Can Do" (WYCD) campaign where we share a series of action plans. With so much happening on the national stage, these action plans are intended to encourage you to respond to the daily breach of the rule of law and the separation of powers. Read more about this campaign here. Skip to the current action by clicking here.

CURRENT TOPIC:  Resist Threats to the Inflation Reduction Act’s Clean Energy Tax Credits 

After the Inflation Reduction Act was implemented, the U.S. reported more than $315 billion in clean energy investments in 2024. Now, financial disbursements have been suspended. Solar and wind are the fastest and least expensive sources of energy production. 

In October of 2023 the US Department of the Treasury issued a press release beginning with this paragraph:

President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act is the most significant legislation to combat climate change in our nation’s history, and one of the largest investments in the American economy in a generation. Already, this investment and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s implementation of the law has unleashed an investment and manufacturing boom in the United States unlike anything seen in decades—especially in disadvantaged communities.

Clean energy tax credits were among the mechanisms the IRA used to unleash the manufacturing boom. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act provided up to a 30% credit for qualifying investments in wind, solar, energy storage, and other renewable energy projects that met prevailing wage standards and employed a sufficient proportion of qualified apprentices from registered apprenticeship programs. Note the emphasis on a living wage and worker development. It worked. The U.S. reported more than $315 billion in all clean energy investments, including the tax credits, in 2024 according to the International Energy Agency, and 80% of that investment was in Republican districts.

On his first day in office the president signed an Executive Order called “Unleashing American Energy” which included suspending disbursements related to the Inflation Reduction Act, including the tax credits. For this administration American energy is oil and gas. However, as with most of this administration’s actions, the suspension of financial support for clean energy was paused by the courts, but chaos rather than clarity has left individuals and industry confused and unsure about how to proceed with on-going and planned clean energy projects.

Arguments in support of the IRA’s clean energy tax credits:

1. “The biggest effects of the Trump administration on clean energy…has been to introduce massive chaos,” says David Victor, professor of innovation and public policy at UC San Diego.
2. Permanently repealing these tax credits would raise US consumers energy bills by 7% or $110 a year as estimated by the Clean Energy Buyers Association.
3. Said another way, One recent study commissioned by ConservAmerica, a conservative environmental group, estimated that repealing those tax credits could cause U.S. electricity costs to rise by $51 billion per year by 2035, largely because wind and solar additions would decline by 50 percent and become more expensive.
4. If the administration is intent on unleashing American energy, then it would do well to listen to Jim Robb, chief executive of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, the nation’s grid monitor who argues: “To the extent that we’re going to unleash abundant energy in North America in the near term, it’s going to mostly be wind and solar.”
5. Even some members of the administration’s own party oppose ending these tax credits. Representative Andrew Garbarino, for example, who is leading the Republican fight to save these tax credits says, “The president wants us to be an energy dominant country, and solar and wind has to be part of that discussion.” “It takes 10 years to build a natural gas plant. We don’t have the technology right now for nuclear or geothermal to work on a large scale. We need energy now, and solar and wind are the quickest things to get online.”
6. The administration is so determined to dismantle what it thinks Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act does, that it is acting in opposition to its own and much of the party’s interests. The administration, for example, says it wants to expand American industry. The tax credits actually support that goal. For example, the credits, which offer financial incentives to companies producing renewable power and sustainable aviation fuel, making components for clean technology and working to pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, have helped push billions of dollars into domestic factory construction ($) in recent years.
7. Undoing the tax credits as part of a plan to reverse Biden era climate actions also ignores history. As the Republican Garbarino argues: “People don’t realize these things (including tax incentives) were not created in the I.R.A.,” he said. “They were just expanded and lengthened under the I.R.A., and a lot of them were in bipartisan bills.” For example, the Renewable Electricity Production Tax Credit for electricity generated by certain forms of renewable energy was passed in 1992 with bi-partisan support during the presidency of George H.W. Bush.

CURRENT ACTION: Call your legislators and let them know how you feel and why.

Some suggestions for your message follow. In general, we are likely to be most successful if we emphasize the economic impacts of tax credits and their alignment with Republican goals for expanding American industry and energy and innovation dominance.  Arguing that our legislators should resist this administration is less likely to succeed.  And remember that many quit listening once they hear the words, climate change.  Depending on your own beliefs it may be useful to remind our legislators that those opposing tax credits for renewable energy is not the same as opposing all fossil fuels now and forever.  A mix of energy sources is consistent with resilience.  And regardless of what you believe it continues to be important to be respectful and brief as possible.

1. The Clean Energy Buyers Association reported that loss of tax credits will increase energy bills by 7% a year. What are you doing to reinstate the Clean Energy tax credit to give your constituents the least expensive energy for their homes and businesses?
2. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation has reported that to the unleash abundant energy, we need wind and solar energy production. What are you doing to encourage solar energy in Florida, the Sunshine State?
3. It takes 10 years to build a natural gas plant. We need energy now, and solar is the quickest to get energy online. What are you doing to encourage solar energy for Florida’s growing energy needs?
4. Solar energy creates jobs and businesses. What are you doing to encourage jobs and financial benefits from the solar energy industry?
5. America wants to be number one in the energy industry. In Florida, solar is a part of the goal. What are you doing to promote Florida as an energy production state by encouraging solar?