The potential repeal of the$ 27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which has n’t yet been distributed, will be up for vote in the House Energy and Commerce Committee this week.
The taxpayer-funded gift to the ailing solar market and non-governmental organizations that support climate issues lacks enough transparency and power.
The fund was created to determine the energy market’s winners and losers, support Foreign businesses that employ forced labor, and destroy the power grid’s dependability.
As Rep. Bob Latta, R- Ohio, said at an Axios fresh strength summit on Tuesday,” When we’ve picked, we lose”.
The fund’s$ 27 billion would allocate grants only for renewable energy projects, which would disadvantage conventional energy producers ( including nuclear ), raise consumer costs, and create a slush fund for green special interests.
All of this is in contrast to the solar agency’s$ 37 billion in federal grants received between 2016 and 2022.
Working-class and minority Americans have overwhelmingly shouldered the elevated energy prices caused by the cost of constructing out renewable energy and distribution system because these tax subsidies largely benefit those with incomes large enough to install solar panels and reap the tax breaks. In California alone, Pacific Gas and Electric prices have increased 127 % over the past 10 years.
Some people associate these laws with a Green Jim Crow, such as Jennifer Hernandez, a prominent economic lawyer in California who also teaches area use and economic rules at Stanford Law School and the University of California.
Additionally, Donna Jackson of the National Center for Public Policy Research testified before Congress that” creating higher energy costs is increasingly keeping]renters ] out of homeownership”.
California, the position with the largest proportion of solar power, has residents who pay more than 29 cents per kilowatt- afternoon, nearly double the state average of 16 cents per kilowatt- hour.  ,
The fund intends to spread$ 7 billion to a few underprivileged areas for solar panels, but even those who do not receive provides experience higher energy costs.
It’s possible that low-income communities that receive discounted solar panels cannot resell excess electricity to the grid. California’s primary grid operator cut off or curtailed a report 2.4 million megawatt-hours of utility-scale wind and solar production in 2022, a 63 % raise from 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Moreover, according to payout restructuring from the California Public Utilities Commission, personal thermal owners must now include the cost of transmission, leading to 75 % of California rooftop- thermal companies being at a , higher risk of bankruptcy. Already, more than 100 solar companies declared bankruptcy in 2023 as rooftop- solar sales are down between 66 % and 83 % since 2022.
Silicon Valley Bank, which financed 60 % of those community solar deals and banked billions of dollars on these green investments, underwent a banking crisis and restructuring. Furthermore, even if these community projects fail, recipients have no obligation to return the funds.
To add insult to injury, 80 % of solar components are coming from China. As such, solar panels purchased by the fund will help finance the Chinese Communist Party’s forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, and Tibetans.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was passed by Congress to prevent slave labor from subventioning the supply chain of the solar industry. However, a Commerce Department investigation revealed that businesses are evading the law. Chinese companies are sending solar panels to other Southeast Asian nations before importing solar components from the United States using fake origin paperwork.
The Biden administration resumed importation from these ill-fated supply chains to carry on the subsidies-fueled expansion of the U.S. solar industry.
Additionally, the possibility of misappropriation of these funds is extremely concerning because politically motivated projects with questionable viability are particularly suspected of funding mischief.
Extremist environmental nonprofits like the Climate Emergency Fund, whose supporters recently poured red powder on the U.S. Constitution and interrupted a conference at The Heritage Foundation in the name of climate change, will not be indirectly funded by the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The Heritage Foundation’s news source is The Daily Signal.
Furthermore, America has removed Chinese solar backup batteries from military bases due to security concerns. Importing compromised Chinese batteries, solar inverters, or synchronizers would be detrimental to national security.
If the Biden administration wanted to ethically source solar panels and related materials, it would allow for domestic extraction of the crucial minerals, reducing domestic dependence on authoritarian suppliers, and creating American jobs.
America needs affordable, reliable, and secure energy sources. By removing this fund, Congress can show its commitment to upholding fiscal prudence, creating a competitive and stable energy market, preventing CCP forced labor funding, and supporting those who want affordable electricity rates in an inflationary environment with HR 1023.
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