A growing group of Republicans and business leaders gather behind the unlikely cause. They want to protect Biden-era tax credits for wind, solar and other clean energy.
President Trump will make federal efforts to address climate change a signatory of his agenda, eliminate environmental regulations, withhold Congress-approved funds, fire workers, halt wind energy development permits, and quickly track fossil fuel projects.
However, the Clean Energy Tax Credit, signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, has fueled a boom in manufacturing investments in the United States, particularly in the Republican districts.
Now, as Trump is urging him to cut federal spending to significantly reduce federal spending, some House Republicans from districts that have earned billions of dollars from tax credits have launched a campaign to keep them.
Republicans argue that supporting renewable energy is in perfect alignment with Trump's “energy control” agenda, despite rallying against what the president calls the “green new scam.”
Last week, a group of 21 House Republicans wrote to Missouri Representative Jason Smith, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, asking them to keep their credits. And in recent weeks, several groups of conservative environmentalists and business leaders have traveled to Capitol Hill to lobby Congressional members on the issue.
“To meet President Trump's campaign promises, we need to look into a full approach to these things as we revive manufacturing and take energy production at home seriously,” New York president Andrew Garbarino, who organized the letter, said in an interview. “These credits have helped with that.”
President Trump has not specifically stated that he regularly talks about repealing the Inflation Reduction Act if there are any of the credits he wants to eliminate. The White House declined to request comment.
The credit has produced renewable electricity and sustainable aviation fuel, created components for clean technology, provided components for work to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and has pushed billions of dollars into domestic factories construction in recent years. The United States recorded more than $315 billion in clean energy investments last year, according to the International Energy Agency.
Approximately 80% of investments related to the bill are in Republican Congressional districts, according to an analysis by research firm Atlas Public Policy. They include battery plants in the southeast, lithium mines in Nevada and wind farms in Texas.
Nevertheless, Trump has said he wants to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act, and many Republicans in Congress support the elimination of all incentives for clean energy.
As Congress works to pass major fiscal packages, the showdown highlights the extraordinary alliance of complex politics and sometimes clean energy revolutions.
Galvalino is one of many House Republicans who have been on the receiving end of the massive lobbying push in recent months.
In February, the trade group, the Solar Energy Industries Association, held a lobbying day in Washington, bringing representatives from more than 160 energy companies into town.
After holding breakfast at the Capitol Hill Club, a Republican social club, advocates of the renewable industry read “The Domination of America's Energy” and incited the Congressional building wearing stickers featuring images of solar panels.
All day long, Solar Group and its allies met staff from more than 60 Congress offices, including 10 members of Congress, delivering letters in support of tax credits signed by more than 1,850 companies.
Last week, nonprofit organization Citizens 'Climate Lobby held a two-day event at Capitol Hill. A day after preparation and training at the nearby Holiday Inn, dozens of groups of staff and volunteers met with council staff to discuss the benefits of the tax credit.
Then, after a day of the meeting, the group held a reception at Barrel, a local bar. There, Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, Mike Lawler of New York, and Mariannett Miller Meek of Iowa stopped by to win the group's “Conservative Climate Award.”
Energy companies have also hired prominent Republican lobbyists in recent months to help maintain tax credits. And even several fossil fuel companies, including Occidental Petroleum, which is expanding its carbon capture business, are helping with tax credits.
It's too early to know if lobbying is important. But letters from 21 members in favour of tax credits really carry weight as Republicans keep a thin margin of razors inside the house.
“What's above five is mathematically enough, so you can put your thumbs on the floor,” said John Miller, energy analyst at investment bank TD Cowen. “They are trying to demonstrate in a very constructive way how these can be reconstructed within the context of energy domination. This helps.”
Advocates of tax credits argue that eliminating incentives hurts consumers. A House Republican letter argues that eliminating the tax credit “will result in increased utility bills the next day.”
A report from the industry trade group The Clean Energy Buyers Association found that two tax credits would “have an average US home price increase by nearly 7% by 2026.”
And many members of Congress and business leaders are rushing to protect the projects they are already working on. Companies have planned large investments over a long-standing perspective, with many relying on tax credits. Advocates say eliminating them overnight is destructive and will discourage other companies from investing in the US.
“We're committed to providing a great deal of support for our credit,” said Heather Reims, civic president of Responsible Energy Solutions, a conservative environmental group that helps protect credits. “So, looking at the benefits these bring to the district, they say, “the dollars and cents are added.” ”
Galvalino, who doesn't have a large clean energy project in his district but co-chairs the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, said he is trying to appeal to his Republican colleagues to be selective incentive changes.
“It wasn't just that we were going to just remove it because it was an IRA,” he said. “That's stupid.”
In an attempt to distract credit from the Inflation Reduction Act, Galvalino noted that most of the credits existed before Biden signed an expanded law.
“Don't throw away your baby in the bath,” he said.
Garvalino said he recently discussed the issue with Bill Gates, who has reset his climate spending to focus on clean energy investments.
“These credits are helping him,” Garbarino said. “There are a lot of private investments that these credits support. They are helping to innovate. They are helping bring businesses from outside the US to the US for investments here.”
Garvalino was a supporter of the tax credit voice, even before Trump won the election last year. In August, he led 18 House Republicans and sent speakers Mike Johnson, known as the complete repeal of the “worst-scenes” law.
Since then, credit protection campaigns have gained momentum. In January, several Republican House members defended them during their testimony before the Methods and Means Committee.
“While the majority of IRAs are undermining policy, we should not ignore the energy tax provisions across the sector that manufacturers and employment creators rely on in my district and across the country,” said Michigan Representative John James.
They adopted Trump's rhetoric as Republicans and business leaders fought to save tax credits. No mentions of climate change or the environment have been made. Instead, the focus lies in the “all above” energy strategy to address issues such as rising electricity demand and affordability and domestic production.
“Republicans aren't talking about climate or emissions in any important way,” Reams said. “We're talking about energy domination. We're talking about reliability, affordability, domestically produced energy, not enriching China or its hostile nations.”
“We're just using languages that break through both the White House and the Republican Congress,” she added. “The message is important.”
But I'm skeptical that House Republicans will vote against their party if the spending package reaches the vote and the clean energy tax credit is not protected.
“I believe that if we get all the way to the point of the floor voting for a home-full settlement bill, everyone will really move forward and try to take all that heat from Trump,” analyst Miller said. “It's pretty difficult.”
