Maxwell Frost Presses Expert About The ‘Clean Energy Boom’ That The Inflation Reduction Act Started

7 months ago

During a House Oversight Committee hearing before the congressional recess, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) questioned experts on energy and manufacturing after the IRA.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So smart policies mean a good return on investment, and the Inflation

00:05Reduction Act is made up of the necessary investments for a cleaner, healthier future

00:09that it's paying off for our country right now. Let's talk about the IRA's returns. Dr. G,

00:15the IRA became law less than three years ago. Could you talk about some of the law's successes

00:21when it comes down to investments and jobs? Thank you for that question, Ranking Member Frost.

00:26The IRA was an investment in a historic investment in climate change that specifically made investments

00:34in improving American competitiveness in clean energy and creating jobs and allowing America

00:41to better compete in jobs of the future. To date, the projects from the IRA on clean energy

00:48have created about 300,000 jobs. There are many more in the pipeline, but many of those are

00:53in jeopardy if the changes in the reconciliation bill go forward. These are projects that are

00:58happening all across America. As just one example, let me give you one down in Louisiana in Iberia

01:04Parish as an example of jobs created from the bill. First Solar is a solar panel manufacturing facility.

01:13First Solar said that their commitment was catalyzed by the Inflation Reduction Act and is expected to

01:18create about 700 new jobs down there. Thank you. I assume unanimous consent to the record

01:23NBC news article, how the Inflation Reduction Act sparked a manufacturing and clean energy boom in the U.S.

01:35Yeah, without objection. Thank you. Smart policies create supply and demand and new solar and wind power

01:40plants can be built and operating in under two years, while natural gas power plants can take twice as long,

01:47and coal can take about four times as long. Sometimes the critics of clean energy try to

01:52sidestep the positive effects of investments like those in the IRA, and then they'll grumble that the

01:57federal government is, quote, picking winners and losers, as if the federal government for generations

02:03haven't been giving massive subsidies to oil companies and polluters in this country, but complete

02:10crickets from them then. Dr. G, how do the clean energy incentives of the Inflation Reduction Act

02:16compared to the subsidies currently enjoyed by the fossil fuel industry?

02:21So first let me just note that I agree with you that solar and wind are much faster at coming

02:26online. In fact, clean energy accounts for about 90 percent of new capacity being added right now.

02:33Solar and wind are deployed faster than all other types of energy combined, including

02:37hydroelectric, nuclear, coal, and gas power plants.

02:40Solar farms can be operational about two years compared to about four years for gas-powered power

02:46plants. I would remind everyone here too that fossil fuel companies also enjoy subsidies. They enjoy

02:54about 15 billion dollars in tax breaks every year, and it's also a highly profitable industry. The five

03:00largest oil and gas companies made more than 100 billion dollars in profits last year in 2024,

03:07and big oil also spends a lot to influence elections.

03:11I really appreciate you bringing that up because we don't hear about that from

03:15my Republican colleagues. I also want to talk about the Inflation Reduction Act

03:20effects on the national level to a personal level. Central Floridians love home solar and home energy

03:27storage because not only because it lowers the electric bill but because it keeps us safe.

03:31How will people's daily lives and daily costs increase if we reverse the progress made in

03:38the IRA, Dr. G? So reversing the IRA's investments in clean energy and the tax credits will increase

03:44costs for American families. American families will see higher electric bills because the United States

03:49is producing less energy. American families will also face higher gas bills. By 2035, gas prices will be

03:57about 25 to 37 cents higher according to Rhodium Group. And the other effect for American families

04:03too is an environment that is less clean. Water and air that are more polluted. And so these are

04:09investments not just in cheaper energy but also a better climate.

04:12I really appreciate you bringing this up. I mean what we've heard and we'll continue here in the basis of

04:17this hearing is to push back on a piece of legislation which is really delivered for working people,

04:22for this country, and pushing us to do what we need to do to have cleaner air, better communities,

04:30and actually bring back manufacturing in a way that makes sense. And we hear these tired talking

04:36points from our Republican colleagues all the time. And we heard one too from Dr. Trish. I think it's

04:42laughable that we've heard this tired talking point that if the government does anything to help bring

04:48down pharmaceutical costs for seniors or for anyone that pharmaceutical companies will stop you know

04:55putting money into R&D and research and development. Not only does the CBO estimate on the Inflation

05:01Deduction Act push back on this, but Big Pharma pulled in about 600 billion dollars in 2023. And so it

05:08doesn't sound just like a talking point. It sounds like a threat. I care more about what seniors in my

05:14district are paying for pharmaceutical drugs than what pharmaceutical executives are bringing home.

05:20So thank you so much. I appreciate it. And I yield back.

Maxwell Frost Presses Expert About The ‘Clean Energy Boom’ That The Inflation Reduction Act Started

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