A new energy bill just introduced in the U.S. Senate is not about starting initiatives as much as it is getting rid of them.
The Energy Freedom Act, sponsored by Idaho Republican Mike Lee, is focused on dismantling a series of green energy tax subsidies that were created or expanded under the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law in 2022.
Lee contends that just over twenty such subsidies have “driven up costs and left our grid more vulnerable.”
Passage of the bill, asserts Lee, will eliminate “taxpayer-funded giveaways,” while also reducing the national deficit and putting the county “on the path to energy security, affordability, and reliability.”
If passed, the legislation would repeal a petroleum tax under the Inflation Reduction Act, and, according to the publication Daily Caller, will put an end to “the ability of project developers to buy and sell green energy tax credits through a practice known as transferability.”
Lee has said that the various projects put into play by the Inflation Reduction Act may well cost taxpayers a minimum of $825 million in the next decade. In response, the Idaho Senator, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, wants to do away with all such energy tax credits as of December 31 of this year.
The legislation has won the support of a number of policy groups, including the American Energy Institute, the Heartland Institute, and the Rio Grande Foundation.
Opponents of the bill have argued that if passed it will increase greenhouse gas and consumer costs, while leading to a greater national dependence on fossil fuels.
According to analysts, the prospects of the Senate passing the Energy Freedom Act in the current session appear strong, while its prospects in a closely divided House remain uncertain.
May 19, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Image courtesy of Pixabay
