Biden’s climate law got zero GOP votes. Some Republicans think its energy tax credits are worth saving

As President Biden’s signature climate law spurs energy investments in Republican-led districts, many Republican members are getting on board with keeping at least some of its tax credits — including the Speaker of the House. 

The law, which included a historic investment in climate-friendly energy sources, got no GOP votes when it passed in 2022.

But now even Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is saying he may want to preserve some of the credits. 

“You’ve got to use a scalpel and not a sledgehammer, because there’s a few provisions in there that have helped overall,” Johnson told CNBC.

His comments come about a month after 18 moderate members of his party said in a letter last month that they also want to preserve some of the credits. 

“These tax credits are important for my district on the energy sector specifically, so I want to make sure that those are preserved,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), one of the signatories, told The Hill last week. 

Asked whether he would push back on any efforts for a wholesale repeal, Ciscomani answered affirmatively. 

“I’m always going to advocate for my district. I’m always going to fight for what my district needs and what’s a priority there,” Ciscomani said. 

However, Johnson indicated Tuesday that he also wants to repeal at least some of the credits. Releasing a plan for the first 100 days of a potential second Trump term, Johnson’s office said Republicans would “repeal wasteful Green New Deal tax credits and anti-energy regulations.”

The top House Republican also said “we will cut the wasteful Green New Deal spending in the Democrats’ so-called Inflation Reduction Act that is costing twice as much as it was advertised, and is sending our taxpayer dollars to China.”

He did not specify which credits he wanted to repeal, and his office declined to clarify. 

Ahead of November’s elections, the party is in a difficult spot regarding the law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). 

The first year after the IRA’s 2022 passage saw investment in renewables equivalent to the prior eight years combined, according to an industry report. 

Where project locations were known, 80 percent of those projects were being built in Republican-held districts, despite the party’s lack of support for the legislation. 

It seems members are feeling the heat, as last month, 18 of them told Johnson that “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.” 

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), who led the letter, said last week that he preferred to “have a discussion” about the credits.

“The Speaker has told certain [committee] chairmen to work on reconciliation. That’s going to be part of it, I imagine,” Garbarino told The Hill. “There should be discussions about, instead of just saying we’re taking everything back, let industry be able to come in and say whether individual tax credits are working or whether they’re not working.” 

Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) said specifically that he’d like to maintain the credits that bolster nuclear energy and carbon capture, a technology that captures and stores fossil fuel plants’ planet-warming emissions. 

“I think it’s going to be very similar to the Affordable Care Act … where in the end it’s not repealed but changes are made to make it better,” Curtis said last week.

Even some supporters of a full repeal, including Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), agreed with that assessment, casting doubt on whether getting rid of the bill was plausible. 

Speaking to reporters last week, Westerman, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, also compared a potential repeal push to the repeated failed attempts by GOP majorities in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“If it were up to me, we would repeal the IRA,” Westerman said. But, he added, “I don’t want to make bold claims that we could repeal the IRA.” 

Congress passed the IRA in 2022 using a process known as budget reconciliation, which only required a simple majority to pass the Senate and allowed the legislation to go through with solely Democratic votes.

The legislation includes significant tax credits for low-carbon energy sources. Many of the tax credits are technology neutral: They can go to any energy project so long as its planet-warming emissions fall below a certain threshold. These credits benefit energy sources including wind and solar. Others are more targeted, subsidizing technologies including electric vehicles, carbon capture, nuclear power and biofuels. 

Last month’s letter was not the first time that some Republicans have resisted changes to the law. When Republican leaders were trying to advance a party-line debt limit bill through the House, they had to change the bill to preserve tax credits for biofuels in order to prevent a revolt from Midwestern lawmakers. 

And while it’s not totally clear whether the party’s leader and its moderates are on the same page about which pieces of the law to preserve, there does appear to be some agreement on provisions that should be eliminated if the GOP wins the House, Senate and presidency next year. 

Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), who was one of the signatories of the letter, said he thinks “some energy portions” could be worth keeping, but “the prescription drug portion is one of the most egregious, worst pieces of legislation I’ve ever seen.” 

Emily Brooks contributed.