![]() ![]() The legislation also includes tax credits for an array of technologies that do not currently get any support, such as large, grid-scale power storage, as well as incentives for the manufacturing of solar panels, electric vehicles and other hardware domestically. She called it “America’s biggest legislative moment for climate and energy policy.” “The entire clean energy industry just breathed an enormous sigh of relief,” said Heather Zichal, CEO of the industry advocacy group, American Clean Power. Energy analysts like Rhodium Group have found that flexibility could help accelerate deployment, since the value of cost-based tax credits shrink as wind and solar energy gets cheaper. The legislation also gives clean energy developers new flexibility to choose the type of tax credit that works best for their project-one based on the cost of their investment or one based on the project’s production. Tax credits for renewable energy for the first time would be extended for 10 years, a major boost for the wind and solar industries, which have not had sufficient time to plan and develop large-scale projects when tax credits were only available for one- and two-year intervals. With Republicans united against any climate action, Democrats have no hope of getting the 60 votes needed for any law that did not involve direct federal spending. Instead, Democrats will provide federal support directly, which, among other things, allows them to include the climate program in a budget bill, meaning they can pass it with just the 50 Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris’ vote under Senate rules. It marks a decisive turning away from market-based schemes like cap-and-trade that Congress considered its best chance of gaining support for climate action a decade ago. The legislation includes $369.75 billion in tax incentives and other support for clean energy-by far, the biggest federal investment ever in addressing climate change. Here are the key elements that make the deal a boon to both clean energy and the fossil fuel industry: Historic Investment in Clean Energy “This is a climate suicide pact,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Meanwhile, other environmental groups were drafting a letter urging the Senate to reject the compromises for fossil fuel development as incompatible with goals to eliminate greenhouse gases. He urged the Senate to pass it without delay, while the climate movement continues to work on other steps “to ensure a just and climate-safe future.” But this is a package we can’t afford to reject.” It’s time to break, not deepen, our dependence on fossil fuels and all the damage and danger they bring. “This is not the bill we would have written. “This is the ultimate clean energy comeback-the strongest climate action yet at the moment we need it most,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, in a statement. ![]() “It is truly all of the above, which means this bill does not arbitrarily shut off our abundant fossil fuels,” Manchin said in a statement.Ĭlimate action advocates were poring over the 725-page draft text, coming to varying conclusions as they tried to weigh the bad against the good. It also requires that, for the next decade, the federal government offer tens of millions of acres offshore for oil and gas drilling as a prerequisite to the expansion of offshore wind energy development.Īnd Manchin said that he has obtained a commitment from Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that they will advance separate legislation this fall that streamlines the permitting process for energy infrastructure, including pipelines and export facilities. ![]() The legislation hikes tax incentives for expensive carbon capture technology 70 percent. fossil energy in a carbon-constrained world. power and transportation sectors and more than $60 billion in grants to help pollution-burdened disadvantaged communities achieve environmental justice.īut the package-now called the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022″-also would invest in ensuring a future for U.S. The legislation they propose to bring to the Senate next week still contains the heart of President Joe Biden’s climate plan-an historic $370 billion investment in transforming the U.S. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Senate Democrats conceded that their only hope for advancing a plan for a clean energy future in Congress was to bind it up in a lifeline for fossil fuels. To seal their surprise climate deal with Sen. ![]()
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