Former EPA administrator and climate advisor Gina McCarthy was a key backer of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The law set the country on an aggressive march toward greenhouse gas emission reductions, including advancing wind and solar. By some estimates, the green energy credits in the law alone will cost $3 trillion over their lifetimes.
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson indicated Tuesday that he will try to save some of the green energy subsidies unleashed by President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill if he gets the chance to do so.
Elected Republicans are divided on whether to pursue a full repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and particularly its green energy subsidies, if the party is able to secure enough leverage in the 2024 elections. Johnson told CNBC on Tuesday that he would prefer to approach any potential repeal efforts “with a scalpel and not a sledgehammer.”
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Vice President Kamala Harris was “proud to cast the tie-breaking vote” for the Inflation Reduction Act. Would she be proud if her administration’s solar subsidies fund supported forced labor in China?
That may be the case with Hanwha Qcells, a South Korean solar company operating in Georgia. Bloomberg recently reported that two Chinese suppliers of the company obtained polysilicon for solar panel components from companies sanctioned by the U.S. government for employing forced Uyghur labor. Hanwha and their Qcells plant leadership deny these allegations, but Bloomberg reports “that the company offers assurances but no public details of its polysilicon sourcing.”
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