Repugnican Budget Bill Could Decimate US Solar Industry

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Ordinarily, creating jobs is something governments like to do. But the current US government, in the hands of those who are only interested in winning cultural battles, not governing, is planning to eviscerate the incentives baked into the Inflation Reduction Act because that legislation was passed by Democrats. Not one member of the Red Team in Congress dared opposed the then 76-year-old enfant terrible as he plotted his Project 2025 inspired revenge tour. Now a massive budget bill championed by Repugnicans seeks to dismantle many of the benefits of the IRA.

Which is curious, because the IRA did what conservatives have been advocating for since before Ronald Reagan. It provided financial incentives to achieve policy goals. There were none of the mandates that members of the Red Team loathe with a white hot passion. But because they were enacted by the Blue Team, they are being replaced by mandates in the form of onerous tariffs that compel businesses to build their factories not where they want but where the MAGAlomaniacs tell them too. As usual, the blatant hypocrisy of Repugnicans is on full display for all to see, but they don’t care, because they have the power to shove their fist down other people’s throat and they are determined to use it.

The so-called budget reconciliation bill will eliminate most of the incentives for solar power it the US. The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has issued a warning that the legislation “could jeopardize nearly 300 American solar and storage factories and lead to the loss of 145,000 GWh of solar generation by 2030 — more than the annual electricity consumption of Pennsylvania.” It claims up to “300,000 current and future American jobs [could] be lost, including 86,000 in solar manufacturing.”

And here’s the kicker: “Roughly 80% of all at-risk factories, jobs, and investments in the solar manufacturing sector are in states that voted for President Trump,” the SEIA claims. Nothing like cutting off your nose to spite your face, Red Team! What a bunch of arrogant, ignorant jerks.

The Great Solar Industry Take Down

The Verge has picked up on the insanity of the Repugnican plan. It notes the proposed legislation would phase out the advanced manufacturing tax credit known as §45x and other tax incentives for renewables that were established in the IRA — and between now and whenever that section gets repealed, the Red Team intends to make it as hard as possible for projects currently in the works to qualify for existing credits.

MJ Shiao, vice president of supply chain and manufacturing  for the American Clean Power Association, said during a press briefing recently, “What we have seen from these texts from House Ways and Means, it basically goes too far, too fast. The manufacturers that were being supported by these incentives, and frankly, were trusting that the government was going to honor these incentives, they’re getting the rug pulled out from under them.”

The Verge puts what America is losing in this deal in stark terms. It says clean energy companies in the wind, solar, and battery storage industries have made plans to “create or expand 250 manufacturing facilities since August 2022,” which is when the IRA legislation was passed. “If those projects are up and running by 2030, they would collectively create more than 575,000 jobs and contribute $86 billion annually to gross domestic product.” That’s according to a report published on May 20, 2025, by the American Clean Power Association.

The SEIA claims that eliminating the economic incentives contained in the IRA will lead to the loss of nearly 300,000 current and future jobs in the solar industry alone in the US. In addition, it could mean a loss of ​​$220 billion in investment in the sector by 2030. The result could lead to a future energy shortage, as solar power was on a course to provide more than 70 percent of the 206.5 GW of new energy capacity the United States will need over the next five years. “Passing this bill would create a catastrophic energy shortfall, cede AI and tech leadership to China, and damage some of the most vital sectors of the U.S. economy,” SEIA CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said.

A Catastrophe In The Making

How much of a catastrophe? “Surging clean energy deployment is creating new manufacturing facilities across the country. This success will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and revitalize American communities if policy leaders place economic progress over partisan division,” said Jason Grumet, CEO of ACP. “Today’s report shows that the manufacturing activities across the clean energy sector drive a ripple effect of economic growth that extends far beyond factory walls, reaching every corner of the country. Reshoring this critical supply chain requires a shared commitment by both industry and policymakers to prioritize domestic economic growth and global competitiveness.”

The ACP report says clean power industries have formed the basis for a secure domestic supply chain that has revitalized manufacturing communities all across America. In addition, those industries are driving American competitiveness around the world. There are over 800 manufacturing plants currently contributing to the clean energy supply chain in the US, with at least one in every state. 200 existing manufacturing facilities are actively building primary clean power components across 38 states — many of them controlled by Repugnicans — and are meeting the demand for new energy sources in America.

Quislings & Cowards

What is happening in Congress this week is a manifestation of the anti-renewable agenda playing out in Texas this month, where that state’s legislature is requiring all new renewable energy installations to either construct methane-powered generators or install battery storage systems to insure there is a constant supply of electricity available to the grid. In addition, those requirements could apply retroactively to projects that have already been completed, which could bankrupt many of them.

This is all being driven by the fake legal doctrine invented by Chief Justice John Roberts in the absurd Citizens United decision that gave corporations more rights than US citizens. The result has been that corporations routinely bribe elected officials to pass legislation that is favorable them. The corporations get everything they want while our Congressional representatives hang up on actual constituents unless they are ready and willing to stroke a check for $100,000 or more.

The proof of the chicanery is that if anyone tried to strip the fossil fuel companies of their federal incentives that include depletion allowances that allows them to create massive pollution and then walk away, leaving taxpayers to clean up their mess, they would SCREAM bloody murder. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, my old Irish grandmother liked to say. But the motto of the fossil fuel industry is “do as we say, not as we do.”

What we are witnessing in Washington this week is a full frontal assault on America’s energy future and a drive to lock the country into ever higher carbon and methane pollution for decades to come. One might ask why any sane business leader would advocate for policies that degrade the environment and endanger the lives and health of tens of millions of people. When you answer that question honestly, you will gain insight into the moral bankruptcy at the heart of the fossil fuel industry and the stooges they elect to carry out their wishes.