The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!
Utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future. https://t.co/TZ9w1g7zHF— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 28, 2025
The criticism comes as renewable energy advocates raise alarm over last-minute changes to the Senate’s budget megabill—expected to go to a vote as early as Saturday—that they say would amount to a de facto repeal of the clean energy tax credits introduced under the 2005 Production Tax Credit and expanded in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
According to a summary of the draft legislation, the bill would eliminate the use of IRA tax credits for wind and solar projects that haven’t started construction yet—unless they are completed by the end of 2027 and meet complex new requirements proving that no Chinese components were used. Projects failing to do so would be subject to a new tax—effectively the first federal tax penalty on renewable energy development.
Simultaneously, the bill introduces fresh tax breaks for coal production and accelerates the phase-out of clean energy manufacturing credits, a move that could upend billions of dollars in investment and jobs tied to the sector, particularly in Republican-led states.
Jesse Jenkins, a Princeton University energy policy researcher, flagged the implications on X, saying the bill “raises taxes on all wind and solar projects” unless they meet the stringent timeline and sourcing criteria—conditions he deemed “likely unworkable.”
The new Senate draft raises taxes on all wind and solar projects that haven’t begun construction today unless they are placed service by end of 2027 and navigate complex, likely unworkable requirements to prove they don’t use a drop of Chinese materials. After that, this bill…
— Jesse D. Jenkins (@JesseJenkins) June 28, 2025
Environmental groups and clean energy industry leaders have condemned the draft, warning it will raise household energy costs, derail US climate goals, and slow the expansion of power infrastructure just as demand spikes due to AI-driven data center growth.
SAFE, an energy security nonprofit, warned the bill could cede ground to China—already a dominant force in clean energy and AI—by cutting off critical financing for energy storage, mineral processing, and grid expansion.
“Where the original Senate version was a recipe for energy stagnation, this is outright energy surrender,” Reuters quoted Avery Ash, SAFE’s head of government affairs, as saying.
On the other side, fossil fuel proponents welcomed the changes. Former President Donald Trump, speaking Friday evening, called for an end to renewable subsidies, while Tom Pyle of the American Energy Alliance said, “If repealing these subsidies will ‘kill’ their industry, then maybe it shouldn’t exist in the first place.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
