FOUR INFLATION REDUCTION ACT POLICIES REPUBLICANS SHOULD VOTE FOR BUT WON’T

Washington, D.C. – As the historic Inflation Reduction Act approaches a vote in the House, Americans are looking forward to the decades-long era of climate inaction in Congress to end. Notably absent from the effort is the entire Republican caucus, which opposed the legislation in the Senate and is expected to vote against it on party lines in the House. Desperate to oppose any victory for Democrats, Republicans have even begun lobbying oil and gas companies to oppose the Inflation Reduction Act, despite the bill being supported by 73% of voters in a recent poll, including 52% of Republicans.

In voting against the bill, many Republicans will be opposing ideas they have long championed on climate. The membership of the House Conservative Climate Caucus have long presented themselves as conservatives who take climate change seriously, and many of the Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions align closely with their platform. They are expected to oppose the package anyway.

Here are four Inflation Reduction Act policies that align with previous Republican leadership statements on climate:

Innovation

• Conservative Climate Caucus: “Practical and exportable answers can be found in innovation embraced by the free market.”
• The Inflation Reduction Act: invests $3.6 billion and gives $40 billion in loan guarantee authority to the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office to invest in the next generation of clean energy technology. This office famously gave Tesla a loan that helped create the foundation for the company’s success. Tesla even repaid the loan early.

Job Creation

• Conservative Climate Caucus: “working to combat climate change without hurting American businesses and jobs.”
• The Inflation Reduction Act: Will increase GDP by 0.84 to 0.88 percent in 2030, and create up to 1.5 million jobs in 2030, mostly in the manufacturing, construction, and service industries.

Free Market

• Conservative Climate Caucus: “Practical and exportable answers can be found in innovation embraced by the free market. Americans and the rest of the world want access to cheaper, reliable, and cleaner energy.”
• The Inflation Reduction Act: this bill harnesses the power of the free market to drive emissions down, which is why it’s one of the most cost effective environmental policies the nation has ever pursued. It provides $369 billion in clean energy tax credits to allow clean energy companies to compete on a level playing field with oil and gas, which receive trillions of dollars in subsidies every year. 

Global Competitiveness

• Conservative Climate Caucus: “Private sector innovation, American resources, and R&D investment have resulted in lower emissions and affordable energy, placing the United States as the global leader in reducing emissions… Climate change is a global issue and China is the greatest immediate obstacle to reducing world emissions.”
• The Inflation Reduction Act: America has a proud history of environmental leadership in the global community—but when it comes to the clean energy of the future, we’re falling behind China. In manufacturing alone, the bill invests:
  • $30.622 billion in the Wind, Solar, and Battery Manufacturing Production Tax Credit
  • $13.166 billion in the Hydrogen Production Tax Credit
  • $6.255 billion in the Clean Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit
  • $5 billion in EV Manufacturing Loans and Grants
• By turbocharging the next generation of American energy, the bill allows the U.S. to compete with China in an exciting new global market.

Tomorrow’s vote will show the vast gap between Republicans’ statements on climate change and their actions. While many Republicans in Congress have gone to great lengths to present themselves as climate champions, a vote against the Inflation Act will show once again that far from a party of solutions, they are a party of obstruction.

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