The “one big, beautiful bill” has cleared the House and now sits with the Senate. We are hopeful that senators will stick to the House’s framework and deliver a real repeal of green energy giveaways, such as wind and solar subsidies. With wind and solar lobbyists now descending on the Senate, the gains that were made in the House are now in jeopardy of being lost if lawmakers do not hold the line.
We are hopeful that the Senate will hold that line.
Time and time again, in states such as our home state of Oklahoma, we have witnessed federal subsidies incentivize increasingly less efficient projects in areas that are less suitable for development, and where local communities simply don’t want them. Thanks to the fiscal hawks on the House Budget Committee, the most egregious tax credits — originally set to begin phasing out in six years — are now on track to end for all new projects just 60 days after the bill’s enactment. State energy secretaries across middle America are applauding the move. Now all eyes are on the Senate.
We remind the Senate of how Democrats’ green energy subsidies have failed Americans. These corporate handouts fuel inflation, undermine energy security, and break the promises Republicans made to voters. We cannot afford to make the same mistake again.
At a time when interest payments on the national debt exceed defense spending, terminating wasteful green energy subsidies should be a no-brainer. But Congress has a spending addiction.
Since 1992, lawmakers have set 13 deadlines to end these subsidies, only to repeatedly extend them under an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. But subsidizing certain energy sources over others is the exact opposite of an all-of-the-above approach, and the government should stop picking winners and losers. Worse, these subsidies, along with other green energy give-aways, were supercharged under the Biden administration.
As former President Ronald Reagan observed, “Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.” This remains true today. These ineffective green energy giveaways are expected to cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade, perhaps even more.
These subsidies are fiscal failures that distort our markets and burden taxpayers. We need an affordable energy policy, not high-cost, taxpayer-subsidized incentives that enrich unreliable energy producers and punish states such as Oklahoma, the sixth-largest producer of oil and fifth-largest producer of natural gas.
These subsidies also undermine energy reliability, putting America’s national security at risk. Democrats’ green energy subsidies prioritize unreliable, intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar, while our nation needs tried and true energy that can keep the lights on at all times and provide the constant, reliable power to homes and industries needed to keep our country strong and secure.
A recent assessment warns that blackout risks are rising in key regions, especially when wind and solar fall short during peak demand. The report warns that adding more wind and solar will “introduce more complexity and energy limitations.”
But the risks go beyond blackouts.
These subsidies make us more dependent on China, which dominates the global solar supply chain. Just last month, China was caught embedding devices with the potential to disable our power grid in U.S. solar equipment. That’s a national security threat we cannot afford.
Beyond security risks, these subsidies also burden American families trying to make ends meet.
Since the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act expanded green subsidies in 2022, America’s economic outlook has worsened, and families have felt the strain. LendingTree reported that just one year after the passage of the IRA, one in three American households had to choose between buying groceries and paying their energy bills because of inflation in energy prices. This is unacceptable.
Americans did not vote for endless giveaways to billion-dollar developers. They voted for dependable power, stable prices, and a government that lives within its means.
RENEWABLE ENERGY TAX CREDITS FALLING OUT OF FAVOR WITH DEMOCRATS, INDEPENDENTS: POLL
There’s a better path forward, starting with preserving the framework House Republicans set in their version of the “big, beautiful bill,” which enforces a firm end to these green energy giveaways. It’s time for the federal government to stop funding failure, kill these runaway green-energy handouts, and deliver relief to Americans.
The ball is in the Senate’s court to prove it is serious about fiscal responsibility, energy reliability, and prosperity for average Americans.
Jeff Starling is the Oklahoma secretary of energy and environment. Josh Brecheen is the U.S. representative from Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District.