Back in July, President Trump signed a major tax bill into law, which will make it significantly more expensive to build wind and solar projects around the country.
Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.
Back in July, President Trump signed a major tax bill into law, the one you’ve probably heard people call The Big Beautiful Bill. It had a lot in it, but here on Possibly we wanted to know what the law means for climate change.
We had Nat Hardy from our Possibly Team look into this.
Nat Hardy: Hi Megan,
Megan Hall: Okay so break it down for us, what does the Big Beautiful Bill mean for climate?
Nat Hardy: It’s pretty bad news, to be honest. The law rolls back most, but not all, of the Inflation Reduction Act— that’s the 2022 law that made massive investments in climate solutions.
Megan Hall: So, what did the big beautiful bill take away?
Nat Hardy: The changes affect a lot of different things, electric cars, home appliances, and manufacturing jobs just to name a few. But today, I want to talk about how it changes the way we make electricity.
Megan Hall: Got it. Before we get into the specifics, can you set the scene for us, where were we before the bill got passed?
Nat Hardy: So the Inflation Reduction Act had a really important tax credit related to making electricity. It basically said that as long as your energy doesn’t create greenhouse gases, you can get a tax break. So that’s solar panels, wind turbines, but also things like nuclear, or geothermal energy.
Megan Hall: And so the Big Beautiful Bill got rid of those credits?
Nat Hardy: Not all of them. Just the ones for wind and solar.
Megan Hall: So, how will that affect us?
Nat Hardy: To find out, I talked to Larry Chretien, the executive director of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, a clean energy advocacy group working in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
Larry Chretien: You know, the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill is going to actually raise electricity rates all across the country. It’s not a pro-consumer bill, it’s an anti-consumer bill, and it’s just putting us in a very short term position of having to increase our dependence on fossil fuels.
Nat Hardy: Getting rid of this tax credit is going to make it a lot harder to build new solar panels, and wind farms across the US. And Larry’s right– experts say this move will raise electricity costs. Solar and wind are by far the cheapest forms of new electricity generation in the US right now.
Megan Hall: So, how much more are we going to have to pay?
Nat Hardy: Well, early estimates suggest that within a decade, Americans will spend about 200 dollars more a year on their electricity because these tax credits were eliminated.
Megan Hall: I’d imagine it will also mean more green house gas emissions right?
Nat Hardy: Yeah that’s right. Estimates from an energy systems lab at Princeton suggest that the US’s emissions from making electricity will increase by 13% over the next decade because of this law.
Megan Hall: Okay so what does this mean practically? Did a bunch of renewable energy projects grind to a halt after the bill passed?
Nat Hardy: Well actually no! There was a last minute change to the bill that gave renewable energy projects a little more time to get the tax credit. Here’s Larry again,
Larry Chretien: That was one tax credit provision that made it into the final bill that was, believe it or not, was a little bit better than we thought it was going to be. We thought they were gonna shut the window, as fast as they could.
Nat Hardy: The way the law is written, wind and solar projects can still claim their tax credits as long as they start construction before August of 2026. So projects have about a year to get started.
Megan Hall: But that seems pretty fast to build a wind farm!
Nat Hardy: Yeah it is. It can take years to get one of these projects approved. And on top of that, the Trump administration has added a bunch of roadblocks to slow down the permitting process.
Larry Chretien: What it’s gonna do is it’s gonna narrow down the number of projects that can get in under the wire. And so there’s gonna be some really good projects that just take a little bit longer and they won’t make it.
Nat Hardy: But Larry thinks at least in the short term, the law could actually speed up renewable energy projects, as developers rush to beat the deadline.
Larry Chretien: It is gonna be almost like a gold rush. I’m pretty convinced more solar will be developed in all 50 states in the next 18 months than would’ve happened if it wasn’t for the big beautiful bill. But then it’s going to be. Like the party’s over at the end, and then there’s gonna be a whole bunch of people who are gonna lose their jobs. And it’s gonna be sad.
Megan Hall: Alright, Thanks for the update Nat, I guess….
That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, at askpossibly.org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or Bluesky at “askpossibly”
Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.
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