A🧡465-word💛under💚2.5-minute💙read
The climate community is in mourning. More accurately, the solar industry is in mourning because it was the primary beneficiary of the from the IRA.
Not to worry though. As the solar industry is fond of reminding everyone, solar is the least expensive form of energy. If that’s accurate, it should do fine in a free market.
I’ve done numerous posts on the Inflation Reduction Act. Last November, I went on record with a series of predictions on the fallout from Trump’s victory. In March, I followed up with a series of posts reviewing those predictions, while also laying out the case of why, in the grand scheme, the IRA doesn’t matter.
The final picture is coming into focus, and the only people who are surprised are those who thought rationale thinking would prevail. If you’ve studied Donald Trump as I have, you would know rational thinking plays no part.
The consensus opinion among climate journalists was that the IRA would survive because the economic benefits were enjoyed mostly by Red States. Refer to my previous comment on rationale thought.
Much of what the President has done isn’t good for Republicans. While his actions may solidify his minority base, he is alienating the people who got him elected: independents. If that trend doesn’t reverse, national elections won’t be pretty for Republicans.
Of course, that assumes that the Democrats cease their version of delusional thinking. Dems need to admit why they lost the election. Hint: having Bernie and AOC be the face of the party isn’t the answer.
It’s about policy not messaging.
It’s a toss-up on how Independents would swing if faced with the choice of the extreme left versus the extreme right.
But I digress. This isn’t about politics.
Wait, it’s all about politics.
The climate movement’s strategy alienated many members of one political party. That was a byproduct of both bad policy and bad messaging. Now, at least in the U.S., it will pay a price. That’s unfortunate for the planet.
The proposal on the table isn’t necessarily what will be in the final bill. However, the folks at the news feed SolarWakeup continue the delusional thinking by “expecting the IRA changes will get better in our favor. ”
Why?
Because they couldn’t get worse?
They can always get worse. In fact, when it comes to the climate effort, almost everything that the administration has done has been worse than expected.
Tomorrow I’ll dig deeper into the proposal. Currently, it mostly eliminates the EV tax credit, sunsets most renewable credits early, and eliminates tax credit transferability. The later wasn’t a focus, but it may do the most short-term damage.
And, oh by the way, so far most of my November 2024 predictions have proven correct.
#renewables #solarpower #climatechangeisreal #inflationreductionact