MEMO: Trump’s Agenda is Driving Up Costs Everywhere

TO: Interested Parties

FROM: Alex Witt, Climate Power Senior Advisor of Accountability Campaigns

DATE: April 15, 2025

RE: Trump’s Agenda is Driving Up Costs Everywhere

Families across the country are reeling from high costs of living – and Trump’s policies are making it worse. Not only do his tariffs amount to the single largest tax increase on Americans in history, his plan to gut clean energy investments would send energy costs through the roof and threaten our energy independence. It would also, ironically, put hundreds of thousands of American manufacturing jobs at risk, even as Trump cites manufacturing as the rationale for his tariffs.

Americans are quickly losing confidence in Trump’s handling of the economy. 55% of the public say they are not confident in Trump’s ability to deal with energy costs – a nine point jump since December. 57% say they aren’t confident in Trump’s ability to bring down costs. It’s not hard to see why: Trump’s agenda is driving up costs all across the country. 

• Raising energy costs on low-income and elderly Americans: Trump cut the entire staff responsible for helping Americans pay their heating and cooling bills – essentially ending the service that has helped lower energy costs for 5.9 million Americans nationwide.
• Increasing electricity costs: Trump’s tariffs are raising electricity costs by increasing the price of steel and aluminum needed for energy infrastructure like pipelines and transformers, which utility companies will flow to customers. 
• Making Americans pay more for automobiles: Trump’s tariffs could cause new vehicle costs to rise up to $15,000. 
• Attacking EPA programs to lower energy costs: From illegal freezes, to causing chaos at DOJ with phony political investigations, the Trump Administration is attacking programs to lower utility bills through energy efficiency upgrades.

Republicans in Congress must now decide if they’ll make this pain even worse by dismantling clean energy tax credits, or whether they want to stabilize the industry and lower costs for Americans across the country. In a March 2025 letter, 21 House Republicans agreed that repealing clean energy tax credits would “increase utility bills the very next day.” And just last week, four Senate Republicans urged leadership to protect clean energy tax credits. 

• Removing clean energy tax credits would increase residential electricity bills by 3 percent on average by 2030 and by 10 percent by 2040, requiring Americans to pay $142 more per year on power bills.
• A study from Moody’s Analytics found that repealing the Inflation Reduction Act would increase energy costs for American families by an average of $300 per year.

Throughout his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump promised to make life more affordable for working people, but less than 100 days into his second term as president, it’s clear he is doing the opposite. Republicans in Congress can make this a double whammy by gutting clean energy tax credits, or stop the bleeding. 

Trump’s chaos is hurting communities across the country: 

• The Nevadan: Trump’s Executive Orders Could Raise Energy Costs and Threaten Jobs in Nevada
• News 2 Nevada: How tariffs could impact northern Nevada
• The Colorado Sun: Colorado utility bills could rise, emissions cuts would be slowed if Trump ends clean energy tax credits
• ABC 11: Owner of Hobby Shop in North Carolina Says Tariff War Driving Up Cost: ‘10 Percent Increase’
• WRAL: North Carolina farmers brace for impact as new tariffs threaten rising costs
• WFMJ: Valley households fear they won’t afford utilities as HEAP funding uncertainty looms
• Cleveland.com: ‘Hands tied’ by Trump tariff uncertainty: Stocks of Northeast Ohio companies tumble and rebound
• Des Moines Register: Iowa farmers, businesses brace for Trump tariff uncertainty
• Detroit Free Press: Tariffs will cause drop in autoworkers’ profit-sharing checks, bonuses, analysts say
• Detroit Free Press: Trump tariffs go into effect: Why Michigan is so vulnerable
• The Guardian: Michigan autoworkers wary of Trump’s tariffs: ‘Playing poker with people’s lives’
• Detroit News: Trump’s tariffs threaten to end quarter-century era of cheap goods for U.S. consumers
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Popular low-income energy assistance program still has funding, for now
• CBS News: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro says Trump’s tariffs causing “chaos” and “confusion”
• Penn Live: Trump tariffs and federal cuts end planned $300M Pa. plastics plant and its 300 jobs
• Penn Live: Repealing the Inflation Reduction Act would hurt Pennsylvania and fuel inflation | Opinion
• Houston Chronicle: Texas, built around free trade, shudders under Trump’s tariff limbo
• Houston Chronicle: Trump tariffs are causing chaos in the energy market. That’s bad news for Texas. | Editorial
• Spectrum News 1: Long-term impact of tariffs on Wisconsin farmers
• WPR: With new tariffs, Wisconsin importers may face added costs before their products reach stores