The GOP's big spending bill could kill renewable energy projects (The Verge, July 1, 2025)
Senate Republicans advanced the bill with provisions that make it near impossible for many renewable energy projects to qualify for tax incentives Congress passed in 2022. But a last-minute amendment eliminated a proposal to impose a new excise tax on solar and wind projects, which industry groups and advocates warned could have done even more to cut jobs and raise electricity bills.
The fate of renewable energy projects — many of them in Republican districts — was a major sticking point that
nearly stopped GOP lawmakers from reaching an agreement on the “
One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that’s a key pillar of Donald Trump’s agenda.
(...)
Clean energy and climate advocates are still outraged by the bill’s slashing of incentives for renewables — on top of other language that gets rid of
energy efficiency programs, guts
protections for public lands, and
winds down tax credits for electric vehicles.
(...)
The fact that solar and wind — favorite punching bags of Trump and other right-wing culture warriors — were targeted rather than other carbon-pollution-free sources of electricity, like nuclear reactors, is telling. Trump, who campaigned
with support from the fossil fuel industry, has been particularly vitriolic
against wind and solar energy. Misleading claims about renewable energy projects harming wildlife and inaccurate claims about wind and solar leading to power outages have been flagged by researchers as leading talking points in
disinformation campaigns about climate change.
