House Bill Would Derail Biden’s Signature Climate Law

The wide-ranging bill passed by the House last night will do many things: slash taxes, increase military and border spending, pare back Medicaid.

If enacted into law, it will also effectively gut the Inflation Reduction Act, the sweeping law signed by President Biden that was designed to reduce America’s planet-warming emissions and spur a domestic boom in clean energy.

A core part of the Inflation Reduction act was a series of tax credits that benefited companies working to produce clean energy and remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Those tax credits have already led many companies to increase their spending and create jobs, leading to more than $843 billion in investments announced over the last three years.

As I reported in March, a diverse coalition was seeking to protect the credits — not just Democrats and climate crusaders, but many Republicans and business groups, too. And as Brad Plumer and Lisa Friedman reported earlier this week, what was once considered by some the most important climate legislation in history had been framed by its supporters in Congress mostly in economic terms.

Among those who lead the charge was Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a Republican from New York who had organized a group of fellow conservatives to try and persuade congressional leadership and the White House that the tax credits were not part of the “green new scam,” as President Trump has said.

In the end, those efforts fell flat. Under the House bill, tax credits for low-emissions electricity sources such as wind, solar, batteries and geothermal would disappear entirely, with a small exception for companies that have started construction within 60 days after the bill becomes law and finish by the end of 2028.

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