The finish line draws nearer
After Senate Republicans narrowly passed their version of the megabill — which took a softer strategy to phasing out Democrats' climate legislation on Tuesday than many hardline conservatives had sought — it's now up to the House to vote, with only a couple days until their self-imposed July 4th deadline, reports our Josh Siegel, Kelsey Tamborrino and James Bikales.
A group of moderate GOP senators succeeded in beating back conservatives' boldest disruption to wind and solar energy projects — a new punitive tax — as well as the tight deadlines for building renewable facilities that they feared would push the growing industry off an economic cliff by undermining billions of dollars in new investments.
But House Republicans are already drawing their battle lines. Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) and Keith Self (R-Texas) slammed the Senate bill on X for rolling back the House-approved eliminations of clean energy tax credits.
“This is NOT President Trump’s BBB — this is a swamp creation!” Self wrote.
But whether they vote against the Senate’s reconciliation bill and risk blowing past Trump’s desired July 4th deadline is another story. Tom Pyle, president of the conservatively-aligned American Energy Alliance, urged House Republicans to completely scrap the “Green New Deal," even if it forces them to miss that Independence Day deadline. In a statement, Pyle said “the risk of loopholes that could undermine the promised phaseout of wind and solar subsidy programs” remain in the Senate version.
It was not just staunch conservatives that the compromise failed to win over. Pro-manufacturing groups also criticized the changes as a giveaway to China. Mike Carr, executive director of the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America Coalition, said the quick termination of the tax credits — and their domestic content incentives — will allow China to benefit from taxpayer dollars and hurt U.S. manufacturing jobs and investments.
“It’s outrageous and self-destructive to have the government turn its back on the people taking real risks to restore American manufacturing,” he said. “How are we going to expect any companies to trust that our federal policies won’t flip-flop in the future? Congress is undermining its own credibility.”
Lawmakers, industry officials and environmental groups are sounding alarms over the legislation’s elimination of key tax credits, pointing out how it will hurt America’s solar industry, put additional strain on the electric grid and halt America’s economic growth in the energy sphere. Members of the all Democratic House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition slammed the bill, saying it “destroys American energy security, kills jobs and sends electricity costs through the roof for American families.”
Some groups — such as Climate Power, League of Conservation Voters and Families over Billionaires — are already laying the groundwork for the midterm elections to show voters how Republicans are advancing a bill contrary to public opinion.
"The more Americans hear about the bill, the more they hate it," they wrote in a memo addressed to officials, communicators and advocates. "When voters hear the basic components of the bill, delivered with neutral framing, opposition grows."