Donald Trump’s plan to gut climate law would be self-harm, US energy chief says

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Donald Trump’s plan to gut the Biden administration’s sweeping climate legislation would be like “stabbing ourselves” and give China the advantage in a global cleantech race, the US energy secretary has said.

Jennifer Granholm told the Financial Times the Inflation Reduction Act had spurred a “tsunami of investment” worth $500bn and was rebuilding a US manufacturing sector capable of competing with China.

But Trump’s plan to scrap the IRA and its vast cleantech subsidies if he is elected president in November would threaten progress made in reshoring factories in the US and threaten American energy independence, she said.

“Why would we want to give China the advantage again?” Granholm said. “That just seems like we would be not just unilaterally disarming, we would be stabbing ourselves because it would be so foolish.”

“It would definitely be undermining America’s energy independence,” she said, adding it was also “super important from a geopolitical point of view” that the US help break global dependence on Chinese supply chains.

“Our allies don’t want to be reliant on one source for their critical minerals, for their solar panels and batteries,” she said, referring to China’s dominance.

The IRA, passed in 2022, is the centrepiece of Biden’s economic agenda and effort to reindustrialise parts of the US rust-belt, and includes about $370bn in credits, loans, and grants designed to accelerate investment in green energy manufacturing capacity.

But Trump, the Republican party’s presidential candidate, has vowed to undo the legislation, blaming the Biden administration’s green policies for pushing up fuel costs — a key message as he fights Democratic rival Kamala Harris in this year’s White House race.

“It actually sets us back, as opposed to moves us forward,” Trump said, referring to the IRA at a speech in New York earlier this month. “And [I will] rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.”

Trump has also dismissed climate change as a “hoax” as he pledges to roll back environmental rules and boost US fossil fuel production.

Any Trump attempt to undo the IRA would require legislation, meaning Republicans would almost certainly need to win control of both houses of Congress in November.

Granholm said it would be an act of “political malpractice” for Trump to attempt to upend the law, which would trigger a backlash from politicians in his own Republican party eager to defend projects and jobs in their states.

About 70 per cent of the planned investments sparked by the IRA have been directed to Republican districts in the US, with many projects scheduled for communities with below-average wages and education levels.

Last month 18 Republicans in the House of Representatives signed a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, asking him not to work towards “prematurely repealing energy tax credits” supporting new IRA investments.

Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Granholm also rejected the former president’s claims that the Biden administration was waging “war on American energy” by restricting oil and gas permitting and pausing approvals of new liquefied natural gas export projects.

“The US oil and gas sector has never produced as much as it has right now,” said Granholm, adding the White House had issued more drilling permits than the Trump administration.

She said the Department of Energy’s pause on approving new LNG plants in January was necessary given the rapid expansion of the industry in previous years. The findings of a scientific report due to be concluded later this year would determine the path forward, Granholm said.