Eighteen House Republicans are telling their leadership not to gut the clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act if the GOP wins a governing majority in Washington next year.
Their new letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), shared first with POLITICO’s E&E News, is the latest example of a growing rift within the Republican Party. On one side are lawmakers who want a wholesale repeal of the climate and social spending law. On the other are those whose districts are seeing the tangible benefits of that law in the form of clean energy manufacturing investments.
It’s a split the party could have to contend with if former President Donald Trump, who has pledged to unravel the Inflation Reduction Act, returns to the White House and Republicans control both chambers of Congress.
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“Prematurely repealing energy tax credits, particularly those which were used to justify investments that already broke ground, would undermine private investments and stop development that is already ongoing,” the House Republicans warn Johnson. “A full repeal would create a worst-case scenario where we would have spent billions of taxpayer dollars and received next to nothing in return.”
Their letter also comes just as members of Congress have returned home to their states and districts for an extended August recess — and to campaign for reelection.
“Today, many U.S. companies are already using sector-wide energy tax credits — many of which have enjoyed bipartisan support historically — to make major investments in new U.S. energy infrastructure,” the letter reads. “We hear from industry and our constituents who fear the energy tax regime will once again be turned on its head due to Republican repeal efforts.”
The letter was spearheaded by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), the co-chair of the bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus. He has been vocal about his support for many of the energy tax credits contained in the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed the Senate two years ago Wednesday in the Democratic-controlled Congress.
In an interview with E&E News on Tuesday, Garbarino said while there was much that he, too, opposed in the massive Inflation Reduction Act, it was wrong to “throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
“Every industry has come into my office to talk about theirs concerns: The American Gas Association, the American Petroleum Institute, the Chamber of Commerce,” Garbarino said. “Nuclear energy, utility producers. So many people have come in. Industries that Republicans have always supported and they’re saying, ‘God, I hope we can talk about this before we pull it back.’”
API and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have been leading the lobbying push to spare Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, specifically those relating to hydrogen and carbon capture. At the same time, House Republicans have voted more than 30 times to rescind parts of the law as the party’s hostility has only grown toward the electric vehicle industry, which benefits significantly.
Co-signers of the new letter include House Conservative Climate Caucus Chair Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) and three of her vice-chairs: Republican Reps. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, Jen Kiggans of Virginia and Buddy Carter of Georgia.
Carter is also the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Minerals who has been very protective of a $7.6 billion vehicle and battery plant in his Georgia district.
The Hyundai facility that broke ground there as a direct result of Inflation Reduction Act incentives is one of more than 500 projects that have sprung up around the country in the aftermath of the climate law’s enactment, including in red districts, according to data compiled by the group Climate Power.
‘I want to talk about this’
Other members who signed the letter are Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), who founded the Conservative Climate Caucus and is likely to win a Senate seat next year, as well as a handful of vulnerable incumbents like Republican Reps. David Valadao of California and Juan Ciscomani of Arizona.
Four New York Republicans who put their names to the missive are also fighting for their seats this fall: Reps. Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Anthony D’Esposito and Nick LaLota.
Chavez-DeRemer, Kiggans and Miller-Meeks are facing uncertain electoral futures as well.
Yet when asked whether he believes these Republicans signed the letter because they saw a political advantage in doing so — namely to curry favor in more moderate districts where the parts of the Inflation Reduction Act might be popular — Garbarino disagreed.
“I’m not sure there is a political benefit to this; this goes against what a lot of Republicans are saying,” he said. “I think it actually takes political courage to sign this letter because it’s not the most popular thing in our party right now.”
As a testament to that, Garbarino said he circulated the letter quietly over the last few weeks, pitching it to allies who he knew might be interested in signing on and relying on certain trade groups to approach members who would be sympathetic to the cause.
He said he feared a leak could prompt political backlash from right-leaning groups that are determined to undercut the entire Inflation Reduction Act. He compared such a potential outcome to earlier reporting from E&E News that revealed the names of Republicans who were considering co-sponsoring a bill to study carbon emissions. Subsequent lobbying from activists and oil refiners peeled away several potential supporters before the legislation could be introduced in the House.
“There’s probably another dozen members who would have signed onto this letter but for the politics,” Garbarino predicted. “You have 18 members signing this letter publicly, and dozens more talking with the speaker privately … saying, ‘Hey, I want to talk about this.’”
‘Real jobs, real investments’
Despite their backing of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Republicans make clear in the letter that more domestic oil and gas production is necessary to achieve “American energy dominance [that] increases national security, creates American jobs, and ensures energy independence” — a sentiment rejected by many Democrats who see the Inflation Reduction Act as a blueprint for eventually phasing out fossil fuels.
“We know the U.S produces cleaner energy than anywhere else in the world and has a strong track record of emissions reductions, even before passage of the IRA,” the letter continues.
Ultimately, Garbarino explained, the letter comes as Republicans are actively discussing what Democratic-passed tax programs they could repeal in the early days of the next Congress, should the GOP fare well in November.
Johnson has directed committee chairs to begin making recommendations for what could be included in a bill to be advanced through budget reconciliation, a procedure that sidesteps the Senate filibuster and was employed to pass the the Inflation Reduction Act.
But even if Republicans keep their majority, Garbarino said it would probably be a “tight” majority, meaning Johnson should take the warnings from 18 Republicans seriously.
“We are trying to keep the politics out of this; we are solely focusing on policy,” he said. “But this discussion needs to happen. These are real jobs, real investments we’re seeing right now. Let’s take a look and see what can be and should be kept — what’s actually working.”
This story also appears in Energywire.
