A Major Reckoning for US Energy Policy

Congress is rushing to enact what could be the most significant energy policy reversal in decades. The US Senate has begun work on an enormous budget reconciliation bill that would extend President Trump's tax cuts while all but eliminating clean energy programs to help pay for them. The House version substantially repeals nearly all tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act—affecting everything from solar and wind development to hydrogen and carbon capture projects.

According to the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School/Columbia Climate School, approximately $9.65 billion in unobligated IRA funds  are at risk of rescission. Critics of the cuts say this could kill progress toward decarbonization, and pull the plug on US clean energy manufacturing. But supporters argue it's necessary fiscal discipline.

So what's really happening in the Senate? Can moderate Republicans preserve some clean energy provisions? And with a Fourth of July deadline looming, what wildcard events could change the political calculus?

This week, Bill Loveless speaks with energy analyst Kevin Book about the massive budget reconciliation bill currently moving through Congress and what it could mean for US energy policy.

Kevin is managing director of research at ClearView Energy Partners. He has tracked congressional energy legislation and its real-world impacts for years. In addition to leading ClearView’s research team, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Petroleum Council, an advisory body to the Secretary of Energy. He’s also a non-resident senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Credits: Hosted by Jason Bordoff and Bill Loveless. Produced by Mary Catherine O’Connor, Caroline Pitman, and Kyu Lee. Engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is executive producer.