Berliner Boersenzeitung - How will Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' impact US climate policy?

EUR -
AED 4.194712
AFN 79.943843
ALL 96.331732
AMD 438.340867
ANG 2.043923
AOA 1047.258657
ARS 1566.341113
AUD 1.777396
AWG 2.058542
AZN 1.938101
BAM 1.95167
BBD 2.304902
BDT 139.553462
BGN 1.955026
BHD 0.430495
BIF 3360.476997
BMD 1.142048
BND 1.481352
BOB 7.888238
BRL 6.400835
BSD 1.141674
BTN 99.979553
BWP 15.588875
BYN 3.735862
BYR 22384.145843
BZD 2.293028
CAD 1.582388
CDF 3300.51918
CHF 0.928034
CLF 0.028331
CLP 1112.275017
CNY 8.216294
CNH 8.235498
COP 4780.317072
CRC 576.874198
CUC 1.142048
CUP 30.264279
CVE 109.580158
CZK 24.576591
DJF 202.965141
DKK 7.463988
DOP 69.66482
DZD 149.52035
EGP 55.467229
ERN 17.130724
ETB 157.834992
FJD 2.595078
FKP 0.860427
GBP 0.864879
GEL 3.083917
GGP 0.860427
GHS 11.991979
GIP 0.860427
GMD 82.805067
GNF 9907.268324
GTQ 8.76737
GYD 238.832504
HKD 8.965039
HNL 30.093196
HRK 7.534553
HTG 149.801686
HUF 400.013885
IDR 18850.191716
ILS 3.877499
IMP 0.860427
INR 100.004943
IQD 1496.083217
IRR 48094.504402
ISK 142.218822
JEP 0.860427
JMD 182.663457
JOD 0.809728
JPY 172.109527
KES 147.90259
KGS 99.872801
KHR 4585.323697
KMF 492.840958
KPW 1027.779119
KRW 1592.872154
KWD 0.349592
KYD 0.951279
KZT 616.519954
LAK 24645.401539
LBP 102270.421072
LKR 344.976957
LRD 229.551541
LSL 20.568578
LTL 3.372172
LVL 0.690814
LYD 6.184224
MAD 10.397229
MDL 19.65723
MGA 5059.273981
MKD 61.429468
MMK 2397.36053
MNT 4099.205218
MOP 9.230386
MRU 45.476193
MUR 52.761696
MVR 17.591922
MWK 1983.171325
MXN 21.509314
MYR 4.870878
MZN 73.045172
NAD 20.568554
NGN 1747.721832
NIO 41.970677
NOK 11.790386
NPR 159.967085
NZD 1.938846
OMR 0.439114
PAB 1.141574
PEN 4.075968
PGK 4.716945
PHP 66.467776
PKR 323.484977
PLN 4.276187
PYG 8549.832428
QAR 4.157912
RON 5.078915
RSD 117.182165
RUB 92.620141
RWF 1644.549491
SAR 4.284
SBD 9.415232
SCR 16.602867
SDG 685.797423
SEK 11.168815
SGD 1.482881
SHP 0.897471
SLE 26.266899
SLL 23948.185439
SOS 652.676329
SRD 42.045077
STD 23638.09314
STN 25.039408
SVC 9.988775
SYP 14848.3761
SZL 20.56862
THB 37.424638
TJS 10.764926
TMT 4.008589
TND 3.289071
TOP 2.674796
TRY 46.359987
TTD 7.750531
TWD 34.163222
TZS 2935.063777
UAH 47.619513
UGX 4092.304247
USD 1.142048
UYU 45.783116
UZS 14395.518599
VES 141.296009
VND 29920.522293
VUV 136.24949
WST 3.150359
XAF 654.56611
XAG 0.031166
XAU 0.000347
XCD 3.086443
XCG 2.057446
XDR 0.791907
XOF 646.949861
XPF 119.331742
YER 274.834096
ZAR 20.800399
ZMK 10279.801718
ZMW 26.22727
ZWL 367.739073
  • RBGPF

    0.3900

    74.42

    +0.52%

  • RYCEF

    1.0800

    14.18

    +7.62%

  • NGG

    0.2000

    70.39

    +0.28%

  • SCS

    0.0000

    10.33

    0%

  • BCC

    -1.0800

    83.81

    -1.29%

  • AZN

    -3.5000

    73.09

    -4.79%

  • RELX

    0.1100

    51.89

    +0.21%

  • GSK

    -1.8200

    37.15

    -4.9%

  • RIO

    0.2800

    59.77

    +0.47%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • VOD

    -0.2500

    10.81

    -2.31%

  • BCE

    -0.2000

    23.33

    -0.86%

  • CMSD

    0.2100

    23.27

    +0.9%

  • BTI

    0.5200

    53.68

    +0.97%

  • BP

    -0.1000

    32.15

    -0.31%

  • CMSC

    0.2500

    22.85

    +1.09%

How will Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' impact US climate policy?
How will Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' impact US climate policy? / Photo: Patrick T. FALLON - AFP/File

How will Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' impact US climate policy?

With the passage of his party's "One Big Beautiful Bill," Republican President Donald Trump has largely delivered on his promise of curtailing Joe Biden's landmark climate law.

Text size:

Here's a breakdown of how the new legislation will reshape US climate and energy policy.

- Clean energy tax incentives slashed -

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed by Biden in 2022, was the largest climate investment in US history, allocating around $370 billion in tax credits for renewable energy projects, efficient appliances, and more. Much of that now faces imminent repeal.

"These credits were all huge motivating incentives for clean energy to be built out across the country," said Jean Su, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. "With those removed, those renewable energy projects are all at risk of entirely failing."

Su noted the cuts come amid surging electricity demand from AI data centers. "Removing tax incentives for clean energy means that all of this new energy demand will be given over to the fossil fuel industry" -- resulting in more greenhouse emissions and air pollution.

Critics say keeping the US energy mix heavily tied to fossil fuels locks in market volatility, as seen during the Ukraine war.

Su added that utilities are incentivized to build costlier fossil plants to boost profits-raising electricity rates in the process.

Trump, who received an estimated $445 million from Big Oil during his campaign, has framed the clean energy rollbacks as a victory over what he calls the "Green New Scam."

Doug Jones, a tax attorney and partner at Husch Blackwell, told AFP that "wind and solar took the biggest hit."

Under the new rules, clean energy projects must be in service by 2027 or begin construction within 12 months of the bill's enactment to qualify for remaining credits.

"The pipeline of projects that had begun construction by the prescribed time is eventually going to dry up -- I don't know how they're going to start financing these projects without the tax credits," said Jones.

He added his clients include Fortune 500 companies now alarmed by the ripple effects of ending the credits, which they have been purchasing from renewable developers -- a practice that has infused the market with much-needed liquidity.

Tax credits for energy-efficient home and commercial upgrades also now face a shorter runway, expiring June 30, 2026. However, the bill preserves credits for nuclear, geothermal power, hydrogen and carbon capture technologies.

- Electric vehicles and fuel economy -

Electric vehicles come in for some of the harshest treatment. Tax credits for new and used EV purchases are set to sunset this year, while charging station installation credits expire June 30, 2026.

Albert Gore of the Zero Emission Transportation Project said the bill effectively abandoned "the goal we all share of making the United States globally competitive in the mineral, battery, and vehicle production markets of the future," ceding the market to China.

One eye-catching provision allows automakers to effectively ignore fuel economy rules by reducing fines to zero.

"If you tell a kid before a test, it's okay, there's no penalty if you cheat, what do you think they're going to do?" said Dan Becker of the Center for Biological Diversity.

- Skewing the market -

Meanwhile, provisions of the IRA that benefited fossil fuel companies remain intact, including billions in subsidies and drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico.

There's a new tax credit for coal used in steel making, while a program to help gas and petroleum companies reduce waste and methane emissions is nixed.

The legislation also clears the way for drilling, mining and logging on vast swaths of public lands, including in the sensitive Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Analysts had hoped that the surge of investment and job creation driven by Biden's landmark climate law -- much of it in conservative-led states -- would serve as a check on efforts to fully dismantle it.

That has largely not materialized, though renewable advocates did win a small concession: the late withdrawal of a provision that would have imposed a devastating new tax on wind and solar.

(O.Joost--BBZ)