by: Josh Howes, CEO
December 1, 2024
This is a question that I have been asked many times since the election in November. It’s a legitimate question that has thousands of projects and hundreds of billions of dollars riding on the answer. Trump pledged back in September to “terminate the Green New Deal” and “rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.” (Tamborrino, 2024) So now the question is will he really do it and does he have the support of the Republicans in the House and Senate to see it through?
The short answer is “no” in my opinion. It also seems to be the opinion of many Republicans who are enjoying the money flowing into their states in the form of construction projects partially funded by the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) tax incentives. My sources on Capitol Hill have spoken to many Republicans in Congress and none seem to have the desire to fully repeal the IRA despite not originally voting for the bill.
This sentiment is echoed in an article published just yesterday by Scott Patterson in the Wall Street Journal. (Patterson, 2024) The article quotes Senator Kevin Cramer (R., N.D.) as saying, “There are too many things in there that are too important to too many constituencies” to repeal the IRA. Also from North Dakota is the current governor Doug Burgum who was picked to chair Trump’s newly created National Energy Council. North Dakota has seen a lot of investment recently in the form of carbon capture projects that are being built due to the IRA tax credits.
Additionally, 18 Republican House members sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) in August “proposing a different approach” other than a full repeal that they said would “create a worst-case scenario where we would have spent billions of taxpayer dollars and received next to nothing in return.” (Congress of the United States, 2024) In response to the letter, Speaker Johnson indicated that a full repeal isn’t on the table by saying, “You’ve got to use a scalpel and not a sledgehammer, because there’s a few provisions in there that have helped overall.” (Watkins, 2024)
So at this point in time, it seems reasonable to expect some changes to the IRA but not a full repeal. The provisions of the IRA that are fueling job growth and having their intended effects will likely be left alone. Conversely, the provisions that aren’t helping the economy will likely be modified in some form or fashion.
There is no time like the present to secure your IRA tax credits and tax deductions. If you’d like more information of how Blue Energy Group can help secure these tax incentives for your project, please email us atinfo@blueenergy.group.
Works Cited
Congress of the United States. (2024, August 6). Retrieved from https://garbarino.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/garbarino.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/FINAL%20Credits%20Letter%202024.08.06.pdf
Patterson, S. (2024, November 30). Trump Vowed to Kill Biden’s Climate Law. Republicans Say Not So Fast.Retrieved from The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-biden-climate-bill-renewable-energy-b3e5fe03?st=ZkJiYM&reflink=article_email_share
Tamborrino, K. (2024, September 05). Trump vows to pull back climate law’s unspent dollars. Retrieved from Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/05/trump-inflation-reduction-act-00177493
Watkins, E. (2024, September 17). GOP House Speaker Johnson backs keeping some of Biden’s clean energy tax credits. Retrieved from CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/17/gop-house-speaker-biden-clean-energy-tax-credits.html