A coalition of green energy groups and advocates announced Wednesday that they are planning to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill in an attempt to preserve tax credits from former President Joe Biden’s signature climate law as Republicans consider sweeping spending cuts.
Representatives from the groups are set to meet with members of Congress as part of a broad push to protect Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) green energy tax incentives, according to a press release. Republican lawmakers have floated cuts to IRA spending along with dozens of federal initiatives in an effort to reallocate funds and align them with President Donald Trump’s agenda for broad immigration enforcement, bolstering reliable energy and cutting taxes for Americans.
More than 100 meetings have been scheduled with lawmakers from both parties, featuring members from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the Business Council for Sustainable Energy and the National Hydropower Association, among others, according to the press release.
Biden signed the IRA into law in August 2022 amid record levels of inflation, which he later claimed was largely passed to push through his climate agenda. The bill disbursed billions in massive subsidies to renewable energy companies and electric vehicle manufacturers among other industries. Trump previously referred to the IRA as the “Green New Scam” and promised in September to “rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed” act, which is projected to cost American taxpayers roughly $780 billion through 2031.
The Biden-Harris administration rolled out dozens of green energy initiatives during Biden’s sole term as part of his signature climate agenda, including enacting stringent tailpipe emissions standards in March 2024 and leading a massive push for the adoption of electric vehicles by offering various subsidies and incentives.
Now, renewable energy companies are hoping to convince lawmakers to maintain the Biden-era tax cuts afforded to the industry.
“Solar can be built faster and cheaper than almost any technology, and it’s clear that we can’t meet our nation’s energy challenges or President Trump’s energy vision without a robust American solar and storage industry,” Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the SEIA, said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “With support from federal clean energy policies, American solar manufacturers can now produce enough modules to meet all demand for solar in the United States. It’s critical that our elected leaders understand the impact of these policies and the jobs and investments they bring to their constituents.”
In one list of potential budget cuts, however, GOP members on the Ways and Means Committee recently suggested repealing the energy tax credits, noting that it could amount to $796 billion in savings over the course of 10 years.
Republicans have been criticized the hefty price tag associated with Biden’s IRA since its passage, including Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, who said in 2022 that the climate law “doesn’t reduce deficit, it doesn’t reduce inflation, it just raises taxes, it increases spending dramatically.”
“Look, at the end of the day, the IRA tax credits are unaffordable,” Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds said in September 2024. “In my view, they need to go away. We have enough government subsidies floating out of this town, we don’t need more.”
Seven senators and 14 U.S. representatives also sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson in December 2024 calling for a repeal of the “green tax credits.”
Since returning to office on Jan. 20, Trump has introduced an executive order to “unleash” American energy that included an immediate pause to the disbursement of funds appropriated through the IRA. Trump wrote in the order that it is “in the national interest to unleash America’s affordable and reliable energy and natural resources,” also stating that the order will “rebuild” the nation’s “economic and military security.”
“In recent years, burdensome and ideologically motivated regulations have impeded the development of these resources, limited the generation of reliable and affordable electricity, reduced job creation, and inflicted high energy costs upon our citizens,” Trump stated in the order. “These high energy costs devastate American consumers by driving up the cost of transportation, heating, utilities, farming, and manufacturing, while weakening our national security.”
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy signed a memorandum on Jan. 28 in a move to begin overturning the Biden-Harris administration’s stringent vehicle fuel economy standards.
A Business Council for Sustainable Energy spokesperson referred the DCNF to the press release when reached for comment.
The National Hydropower Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
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