Five takeaways from the Biden administration officials, lawmakers, activists and business leaders who spoke at POLITICO’s Energy Summit.
President Joe Biden’s signature climate law is nearly two years old, and the tug-of-war over its future is only getting more fierce.
The Biden administration is facing election year pressure from progressives to move more quickly to phase out fossil fuels, at a time when the U.S has become an oil and natural gas superpower.
At the same time, conservatives and former President Donald Trump are threatening to gut the law and its hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy spending if they take back power in Washington — though more than a few Republicans are coming to its defense.
And supporters of the law, including a growing number of businesses and communities that stand to benefit, are anxious for the administration to spend the money faster.
The push-and-pull was on display Wednesday at the POLITICO Energy Summit in Washington, where lawmakers, Biden administration officials and industry executives debated the future of the Inflation Reduction Act and the president’s clean energy policies in what could be his last year in office.
Here are the takeaways from the day:
Biden’s billions are having an impact — but supporters say it’s happening too slowly
Businesses are eager to take advantage of the IRA’s clean energy cash, but permitting challenges and delays in implementing the law’s programs have prevented them from doing so, industry representatives told the summit audience.
“We have all this money that’s ready to flow and can’t flow because we can’t build things fast enough in this country,” which could leave investors “holding a bag of money,” said Sam Mar, senior adviser for the philanthropy Arnold Ventures.
A recent POLITICO analysis found that less than 17 percent of the $1.1 trillion in direct spending that Biden’s climate, infrastructure, technology and pandemic relief laws provided for climate- and energy-related needs had been spent as of April — with six months until the election. A gusher of private investments triggered by the IRA’s clean energy tax breaks has also faced headwinds.
“I think it hasn’t been implemented fast enough,” George Bilicic, managing director at the asset management firm Lazard, said of the IRA, though he acknowledged the difficulty in rolling out major legislation that requires new regulations guiding its deployment.
Even Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm acknowledged that the pace of the rollout has been slower than some would like, though she argued more progress will be visible soon.
“We may have gone to a few groundbreakings, but we haven’t gone to a huge number of ribbon cuttings yet,” Granholm told attendees. “Because it takes a while to build the actual factories.”
Some Republicans want to keep parts of Biden’s climate law — but Trump probably won’t
North Dakota GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer advocated for taking a “surgeon’s scalpel and not an ax” to the Inflation Reduction Act, acknowledging that Republicans and their districts are benefiting from many of the law’s programs.
“I will be involved pretty strongly in advocating that we not just repeal the IRA,” Cramer said, specifically praising the tax credit for carbon capture and storage — a technology that has stirred particular interest in the oil and gas industry. “There are some things we like, some things we don’t like, obviously.”
Republicans in the House “are seeing the investments that are happening because of these tax credits and the benefits,” said Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), who co-chairs the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus.
“I think a lot of [the credits] should stay,” he said, noting that “you’re seeing a lot of companies spend a lot of money in red states” to get the tax credits for projects such as electric vehicle manufacturing, new nuclear power plants and clean energy research and development.
But a member of Trump’s 2016 transition team indicated the former president might not be so surgical — especially when presented with a pile of cash that could fund his own agenda.
“If Donald Trump wins the election he’s going to take a look at the revenue, the potential revenue you can generate from funds in the IRA that haven’t been spent, to fund his priorities,” said Tom Pyle, president of the conservative American Energy Alliance.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden’s green initiatives, especially the spending on wind power and electric cars. In a recent campaign appearance, he vowed to “impose an immediate moratorium on all new spending, grants and giveaways” contained in “socialist bills like the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.”
Granholm stood firm Wednesday against repealing any part of the law, saying the “proof will be in the pudding” as investments continue to flow into GOP districts.
“It would be political malpractice to undo the benefits that are happening in communities all over the country,” Granholm said.
Republicans’ message: Biden’s policies will cause ‘brownouts’
Republicans leaned into an argument that Biden’s transition to clean energy will threaten the reliability of the power grid, putting Americans at risk.
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There are a lot of people who will benefit from this law, and they hope it will get implemented faster.
The economy would definitely benefit if these policies get implemented quickly.
Good to see that some Republicans see the benefits of this law.
The slow pace of implementation is concerning, and it’s raising issues.
Would like to see more progress on this front.
Is this law having a positive impact overall?
It’s essential not to ignore the potential negative impact of these policies.
We need to carefully consider the long-term consequences before making changes.