With Green Subsidies, The Devil Is In The Details.
June 20, 2025
NEED TO KNOW
- Check out TEA’s new website for the latest in energy news and opinion — sorting Common Sense from the Nonsense.
- ATEA: “Take A Hike” Wind and Solar Tell Grid Operators.
- Opinion: Ending California’s EPA power-grab will jump-start auto, RV manufacturing.
- LNG plant proposed on Merritt Island, Florida.
- Trump: ‘We’re not going to approve windmills.’
- America’s power grid faces an unprecedented challenge from AI and crypto.
- Opinion: DOE aims to put consumers first on home appliances.
- The Washington natural gas initiative may go to the state Supreme Court.
- Natural gas-powered data center approved in Texas.
- Trump proposes expansion of Arctic drilling.
COMMON SENSE
REPEALING CPP 2.0 IS THE RIGHT MOVE: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has wisely moved to repeal the Biden-era Clean Power Plan 2.0, which required coal and many new natural gas plants to capture 90% of their carbon emissions by the 2030s — or shut down by 2040.
Why it matters: Reps. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) had previously warned that the U.S. electric grid is nearing a breaking point. Power demand is surging — fueled by AI and data centers — even as legacy plants retire at an alarming pace. Both lawmakers represent states with strong energy production, where natural gas and coal play critical roles in their respective economies.
Consider the case for repeal:
- CPP 2.0 was a costly, legally shaky mandate. And that’s being polite.
- It ignored local realities, threatening grid reliability, raising electricity prices, and discouraging investment.
- Modeled after the failed Obama-era plan, it sought to reshape the energy sector arbitrarily, regardless of economic impact.
The EPA itself concedes that GHG emissions from fossil fuel plants do not significantly contribute to dangerous air pollution.
There have been significant reductions in methane emissions. From 2018 to 2021, total methane emissions volumes in each of the U.S.’s top oil and natural gas producing basins declined significantly across the board.
While renewables have a role in our energy mix, their weather-dependent nature means that we will continue to need reliable, dispatchable energy to ensure grid reliability for years to come. That means natural gas. As technology develops, ARC Energy Security legislation will establish natural gas as the clean standard for other traditional and dispatchable energy sources to meet.
It’s also worth noting that this is not a done deal. It must go through a public comment period and then could face a Congressional Review Act before eventually going to President Trump for his signature.
Environmental groups, predictably, have threatened to challenge it in court if it’s approved.
Bottom line: CPP 2.0 would mean blackouts, higher energy bills, and economic instability. Repealing it is a common-sense move and another bold step by the Trump administration to restore sanity to US energy policy.
NONSENSE
SENATE CAN’T SHAKE SUBSIDY ADDICTION: We hoped the Senate would stand firm on President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Instead, they once again caved to the clean energy lobby.
The Senate’s version of the bill guts the House’s tougher stance on green energy tax credits.
Instead of requiring projects to be in service by December 31, 2028, the Senate now only requires that they begin construction by that date.
It’s a loophole large enough to drive a wind turbine through. Worse, the “safe harbor” clause gives developers four more years to cash in, turning a hard stop into a slow fade.
Why it matters: The BBB is Americans’ best chance to eliminate the $1.2 trillion in IRA subsidies for renewables that harm grid reliability and energy affordability. This is about fiscal responsibility and America’s energy security.
- The House version equals $558 billion in savings, while the Senate’s version equals $443 billion in savings. The House represents an additional $115 billion in savings.
- The Senate’s plan extends solar and wind subsidies through at least 2030 and some to 2040, as energy expert Alex Epstein pointed out. In reality, they’ll likely last far longer, safely beyond Trump’s term and into the next lobbying cycle.
- Trump vowed to end the “Green New Scam,” and this failed miserably because there is no sunset on the subsidies.
- This is perhaps our best and only chance to get rid of subsidies on energy infrastructure badly in need of Affordable, Reliable, and Clean Energy Security.
Don’t think for a minute that it’s accidental. Since the House narrowly passed its version, clean energy executives, utility lobbyists, and even moderate Republicans, such as Lisa Murkowski and John Curtis, have been pushing hard to weaken the cuts. And they succeeded.
Lobbyists and green energy insiders rewrote the fine print, some of them Biden-era holdovers.
Consider: Now, developers can sell tax credits, keep foreign investment flowing, and keep riding the subsidy gravy train as they have for decades.
The “construction begins” language is tailor-made for abuse. Developers will check a few boxes, break ground in name only, and lock in years of taxpayer money for these unfinished, unreliable, and expensive wind and solar projects.
The consumer always pays the ultimate price.
“All so-called green energy initiatives in the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act are profligate pork that are counterproductive to both the economy and the environment,” president of the Heartland Institute James Taylor, said.
Bottom line: This wasn’t a compromise; it was capitulation. It will cost taxpayers billions — and it could cost Senators their jobs.
A LOOK AHEAD
Hearing On America’s Mineral Future: On Tuesday, June 24, the House Small Business Committee will have a hearing on “Securing America’s Mineral Future: Unlocking the Economic Value Beneath Our Feet.”
Hearing On DEI: On Wednesday, June 25, the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services will have a hearing on “Sacrificing Excellence for Ideology: The Real Cost of DEI.”
Hearing On EPA and NRC Nominations: On Wednesday, June 25, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will have a hearing on nominations to the Environmental Protection Agency and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Hearing On China And American Energy Dominance: On Wednesday, June 25, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights will have a hearing to examine China and lawfare against American energy dominance.
Hearing On Interior Nomination: On Wednesday, June 25, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee will have a hearing to examine the nomination for Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
FERC Open Meeting: On Thursday, June 26, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold an Open Meeting of the Commission.
Hearing On Coal Ash: On Thursday, June 26, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment will have a hearing on “A Decade Later: A Review of Congressional Action, Environmental Protection Agency Rules, and Beneficial Use Opportunities for Coal Ash.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The Senate’s weakening of the One Big Beautiful Bill is a betrayal of President Trump’s American energy dominance agenda. By replacing firm deadlines with loophole-ridden timelines, the Senate is extending massive subsidies for wind and solar. This is not reform; it’s a continuation of corporate welfare that burdens working families with rising electricity costs.”