On May 1, 38 House Republicans sent a letter to the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee asking for a full repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act in budget reconciliation. The signers assert the IRA will cost taxpayers $1 trillion over the next decade and will “jeopardize America’s return to energy dominance.”
The letter addresses the other House and Senate Republicans who have penned letters of support for the legislation, saying the caucus previously had a unified stance to completely dismantle the IRA.
“If every faction continues to defend their favored subsidies, we risk preserving the entire IRA because no clearly defined principle will dictate what is kept and what is culled,” the May 1 letter reads.
The opponents of the IRA assert that it unfairly props up “unreliable” energy sources, while displacing “dependable, proven energy” like coal and gas.
House committees are currently working on markups of the reconciliation package. Speaker Mike Johnson said he wants the bill passed out of the House by Memorial Day, according to Politico.
Renewable energy sources are the pinnacle of energy independence when accompanied with American manufacturing. Whether the rest of the world follows suit or continues to be reliant on foreign fossil fuels is up to them, and America supplying those fossil fuels would likely mean they are being extracted with a more minimal impact than offshoring to certain countries that take the path of least resistance. Offshoring our environmental impact to countries like China has led to way more significant environmental impacts than if we had kept it on home soil. It’s nice not to see the mess you are making first hand, but sometimes you need to be face to face with it to actually clean up.
Repealing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and its clean energy provisions is misguided and ignores economic realities and national security interests. The IRA’s investments in renewable energy enhance U.S. competitiveness, reduce costs, and strengthen energy independence. Fossil fuels have benefited from government support for over a century, with U.S. fossil fuel subsidies amounting to $760 billion in 2022, dwarfing renewable incentives. The IRA levels the playing field, allowing emerging technologies to compete in a market long skewed toward oil, gas, and coal. Renewable energy subsidies do not distort markets; they correct historical imbalances. The U.S. grid operator PJM has integrated record levels of wind and solar without compromising reliability. With appropriate investment in storage and transmission, renewables can support a resilient, modern grid. Extreme weather and climate-driven disasters—worsened by fossil fuel emissions—pose a greater threat to grid reliability than intermittent solar and wind. The IRA is creating jobs and lowering costs for American families. Since its passage, over $350 billion in private sector investments have flowed into domestic clean energy manufacturing. Companies are building solar panel factories, battery plants, and wind turbine components across the Midwest and South. The average household is projected to save $500 annually in energy costs by 2030 thanks to expanded clean energy. Eliminating the IRA’s tax credits would slow economic growth and risk increasing energy prices over the long term. Renewable energy has consistently driven down wholesale electricity prices. The cost of solar and wind has declined by over 80% and 60%, respectively, in the past decade. Renewables are now the cheapest form of new electricity generation in many parts of the U.S. Concerns about Chinese dominance in clean energy overlook the IRA’s reshoring strategy. The law includes domestic content requirements, production tax credits, and funding to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. It is an industrial policy designed to make America the global leader in clean tech. Repealing it would hand that leadership to foreign countries. Energy independence means embracing diverse, homegrown sources—not just fossil fuels. Wind, solar, geothermal, hydrogen, and storage technologies reduce reliance on volatile global commodity markets. Europe’s energy crisis came from dependency on Russian gas, not overreliance on renewables. The U.S. should heed that lesson. The IRA’s clean energy provisions are pro-market, pro-growth, and pro-American. Repealing them would be a step backward, both economically and strategically.
Trump said “Drill baby drill.” Following that comes Burn baby burn which produces green house gasses. This country needs to keep the IRA which supports clean renewable energy and jobs for US citizens!
Not even just that we need a diversified energy grid, we can leverage clean energy in ways that are for them unimaginable but very possible to have a unified grid. Its a matter of national security in its own right.
The republican party has become anti-science (to say the least) and is a clear danger to both political and economic life in the United States. They are spreading blatant lies regarding global warming (they largely deny its happening). The IRA is actually benefitting many of their constituents, yet they are trying to destroy it to promote the oil and gas interests that make massive contributions to them.
Energy dominance requires an all of the above approach.
Thank you, Robert. I agree full heartedly with your opinion and statement.
As with everything these radical, gaslighting fascists say, the truth is the opposite. Repealing the IRA will insure that the US is a 2nd rate laggard in the 21st century clean energy economy.