Solar panels in Tucson, Arizona, USA
Rebecca Noble/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Preliminary assessments indicate that the decrease in clean energy funding in the bill dated July 4 could lead to billions of additional tons of CO2 emissions over the next decade if President Donald Trump, who enacted the law, were to approve it. The US is already falling short of its Paris Agreement commitment to halve emissions by 2030, and this sluggish pace further jeopardizes the nation’s efforts as the world’s second-largest emitter, following China.
“Other nations are reaping the benefits of enhanced investments in clean energy economies, while the US is regressing,” stated David Widowski from the World Resources Institute, an environmental advocacy organization, in a recent statement.
The cleaning method outlined in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” encompasses tax reductions and over $350 million in new military spending.
Republicans in Congress have integrated cuts to clean energy funding alongside significant reductions in affordable healthcare and welfare programs to balance their budget. Over the upcoming years, this law will terminate hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of tax incentives aimed at boosting low-emission energy sources established by the Inflation Reduction Act under the Biden administration.
Researchers at Princeton University are modeling how policy alterations will influence the US energy system and emissions in the coming decade. They discovered that the passage of this law markedly hampered the anticipated decline in US greenhouse gas emissions set forth by Biden’s policies and effectively repealed the Inflation Reduction Act.
With a peak of approximately 6.6 billion tons of CO2 equivalent emissions in 2005, US emissions were projected to decrease by around 17%, reaching an expected decline of about 25% by 2030. The newly implemented law now anticipates a mere 20% reduction for 2030.
A more significant disparity arises in 2035, when anticipated clean energy projects were supposed to be more prevalent. Researchers assert that under Biden’s initiatives, emissions were projected to plummet by 44% from 2005 levels. However, due to the new legislation, reductions will only be around 25%, leading to a disparity of 5 billion tons of CO2 each year.
The delay is likely to generate an excess of approximately 2 billion tons of emissions by 2030, compared to prior pledges made under the Paris Agreement. In 2035, US emissions are projected to be around 2.5 billion tons higher than the trajectory needed to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century.
This bill also revokes this year’s electric vehicle tax credit, which will cease to exist along with renewable energy credits for wind and solar by 2026. The credit for energy efficiency upgrades will also conclude in 2026.
Conversely, tax credits for other low-emission energy sources like nuclear, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy will continue until 2033. The law further preserves support for some innovative technologies favored by the fossil fuel sector, like tax credits for low-emission hydrogen production extending into 2028, and credits for capturing and removing CO2.
Environmental advocates have condemned the bill for its detrimental emissions implications, viewing it as counterproductive to the Trump administration’s agenda which aimed to reduce energy costs and advance American manufacturing.
“We urgently require cleaner and more affordable energy, but this legislation will impede the resurgence of American clean energy production and send valuable domestic manufacturing jobs overseas,” remarked Manish Bapna, from the Council for Defense of Natural Resources, a US-based advocacy group, in a statement.
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Source: www.newscientist.com
