Cracking Down On Green Subsidy Loopholes
August 22, 2025
Need to know
- Check out TEA’s website for the latest in energy news and opinion.
- TEA Takes: Where do we turn for climate justice?
- US LNG: Record exports, rising prices, and a looming problem.
- Opinion: ‘Real feel’ temps are a real joke.
- Top energy group calls for probe into secretive ‘national lawfare campaign.’
- How Trump’s tax plan for renewables will remake US energy.
- Zeldin: Give up the green delusions, Albany.
- Largest utility to buy power from an advanced nuclear plant.
- California Gov. Newsom warms to Big Oil in desperate reversal.
- Natural gas to fuel AI growth for decades to come.
- Opinion: Drill, Baby, Drill is working.
Common sense
PUTTING TEETH INTO THE BBB: The Treasury Department has wisely set limits on the remaining wind and solar tax credits.
Why it matters: This effectively closes a loophole in the Big, Beautiful Bill, as projects will have to actually physically start construction “of a significant nature” on these facilities to qualify for the subsidies.
The law is now crystal clear: Work must be continuous. It also focuses on the nature of the work performed, not the amount or the cost. The new guidance applies only to projects that start construction on or after Sept. 2.
Consider: Isaac Orr, posting on X, explains:
The administration ended the ridiculous 5% safe harbor rules, which essentially allowed wind and solar developers to lock in subsidies for four years if they spent just 5% of a project’s cost up front.
Now it says that construction of these projects must be “continuous.” It also defines “having begun construction” as having done “physical work of a significant nature.”
What does “a significant nature” mean?
- For wind projects, it means the beginning of the excavation for the foundation, the setting of anchor bolts into the ground, or the pouring of concrete pads for the foundation.
- For solar, it may include the installation of racks or other structures to affix photovoltaic (PV) panels, collectors, or solar cells to a site.
- That means that it’s not planning, not securing financing, not researching or exploring or clearing a prospective site, nor lots of other pre-work things.
The language is very specific and for good reason, as solar companies, in particular, can be sneaky. They often sell a project to another company after securing initial permission, leaving unsuspecting property owners in a lurch.
Bottom line: Tightening the rules around remaining IRA subsidies is another solid move by the Trump admin which lets the free market determine energy winners and losers AND saves billions in taxpayer dollars.
Nonsense
THE GAS STOVE CRUSADE CONTINUES: Colorado is the first state to require a health warning label on gas stoves, which took effect Aug. 6.
Why it matters: Fortunately, this needless and invasive measure is already being challenged via a lawsuit.
The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers filed a federal lawsuit claiming the labeling requirement violates the First Amendment by forcing manufacturers and retailers to direct consumers to “misleading” information about health risks linked to gas stoves. It further argues there’s no scientific consensus that cooking on a gas stove causes health issues.
Consider:
This isn’t the first time that a municipality, state, or the federal government (under former President Joe Biden) has taken aim at our gas stoves.
- Similar legislation failed in Illinois and New York last year.
- California lawmakers approved a bill requiring labels noting that gas stoves emit pollution “toxic to people and pets.” But Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the legislation in September 2024 due to concerns that language on the labels couldn’t be updated to reflect the latest science.
- Since then, New York lawmakers have revived their proposal to put warning labels on gas stoves, and Massachusetts is now considering another version, which would require stickers warning that the cooking devices “release nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide inside homes.”
Remember the bogus study that natural gas stoves cause asthma, funded by the leftwing climate group The Rocky Mountain Institute, noted by Crémieux on X. Not only was this study conducted improperly, another larger study found no elevated health risks from use of gas stoves.
And TEA warned readers back in 2024 about the RMI’s shady dealings in The Big Green Grift, where we exposed the financing behind these extreme eco groups.
Most Americans prefer a natural gas stove, and it should be consumers who decide, not bureaucrats or legislators. This includes 96% of chefs surveyed in 2023 who said they prefer a gas range to electric or other options.
You almost never read this statistic: The average natural gas home has approximately 22% lower emissions than its all-electric equivalent. America leads the world in environmental stewardship, in large part due to increased use of natural gas.
Bottom line: Natural gas stoves are no more of a threat to your health than an electric stoves. The state of Colorado requiring warning labels for gas stoves exposes their anti-natural gas bias.
A look ahead
Nothing on the calendar for next week as Congress continues its summer recess!
Quote of the week
“What’s impressive about the Donald Trump oil production spike is that it’s happened even as the spot oil global price has fallen. In other words, we’re getting the best of both worlds: made-in-America energy AND low prices at the pump.”