ROBERT WALKER: GOP Should Rethink Cutting Energy Tax Credits

When Washington gets into a spending cut frenzy it invariably results in the future becoming sacrificed for the present.  Science and technology end up being placed on the chopping block to protect current social welfare spending.  In the current budget discussions, our chance to build a strong energy economy around use of abundant, safe hydrogen is at risk.  Issues like national and border security are of great importance, but they will depend on the development of energy options that fit the future.

Across the country, families are struggling with skyrocketing living costs, including the energy we use to heat our homes, power our appliances, and fuel our vehicles. Thankfully, since Day 1 this administration has made clear that harnessing American energy production and focusing on ways to lower costs is a priority.

But efforts to completely axe all energy incentives passed in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to offset increases that will be included in the reconciliation package could undermine this goal. The IRA included tax incentives for a wide range of energy investment, but most glaringly championed renewables as well as EV production and fueling stations. But not all incentives are linked to well established technologies like solar, wind, and EVs. In fact, several provisions in the bill were linked to promising tools needed for expanding our energy portfolio.

Among the shortsighted moves in the legislative text proposed by the Ways and Means Committee was their removal of incentives for low carbon technologies like hydrogen – an emerging fuel poised to transform industries from transportation to manufacturing.