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Senate GOP’s Clean Energy Repeal and What It Means for Bill Costs, Jobs, and Our Planet

Our latest analysis of the Senate bill text

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Table of Contents: 

  1. Introduction
  2. Finance Committee Analysis
  3. Environment and Public Works Analysis
  4. Energy and Natural Resources Analysis
  5. Conclusion
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Introduction

Breaking news: In June, Senate Republicans released a portion of their disastrous bill proposal that is expected to kill jobs, raise household energy bills, and worsen pollution. The Senate’s latest committee proposal comes on the heels of House Republicans’ extreme tax bill package, which passed last month with devastating cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and clean energy investments. 

The Senate Republicans Committee on Finance (“Finance”), Committee on Environment and Public Works (“EPW”), and Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (“ENR”) portions of the Senate bill make minor changes to the House version, but make no mistake: This bill remains terrible. Republicans are trying to raise your energy bills and destroy thousands of American jobs—simply to line the pockets of billionaires, fossil fuel executives, and their top corporate backers with massive tax cuts.

We’ve compiled our policy analysis of the latest Senate Finance Committee bill text, as well as the recently released text from the Senate ENR Committee and the Senate EPW Committee, to explain how each differs from the House version and how these sweeping cuts will harm your pocketbooks, health, and planet.

In the coming weeks, these committees’ proposals will have to go through a congressional procedure called a “Byrd bath,” where the Senate Parliamentarian makes a call on which parts of the proposed text can be included in reconciliation legislation, specifically targeting provisions that are not related to budget and spending. We will provide updates once the Parliamentarian has ruled, we know what provisions are kept or stripped out, and Senate Republicans have a final proposal.

 

Finance Committee Analysis

The Senate Committee on Finance (“Finance”) covers the tax-writing and revenue-raising elements of the reconciliation bill. Their latest bill text includes major cuts to the federal energy tax credits that are already delivering enormous benefits, particularly in Republican districts. This proposal will be disastrous for households across America, raising the average American’s electricity bills by 10 percent. The proposed cuts to tax credits will kill energy and manufacturing jobs at a time of economic hardship for many families across the nation. These repeals, coupled with the devastating and dangerous cuts to healthcare and SNAP benefits, are an all-out attack on American families. 

 

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1. Clean Energy Tax Credits (45Y and 48E)

Let’s start with one of the most powerful tools supporting the rapid deployment of new energy generation and a modern, reliable, and affordable electricity grid for American homes and businesses: the IRA’s clean electricity tax credits.

The Production Tax Credit (PTC) (45Y) is a technology-neutral tax credit that subsidizes the production of zero-emission energy sources like solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower, and geothermal. For every kilowatt hour (kWh) of clean energy generated, the producer gets a base credit of 2.6¢/kWh if they meet certain criteria. Similarly, the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) (48E) provides a credit of 30 percent (or more) of the investment into these same zero-emission energy generation technology projects, including energy storage.

1a. Summary of Senate Text

First, let’s look at the Technology-Neutral Energy Investment Tax Credit (ITC). This bill aggressively phases out the ITC for wind and solar beginning in 2026, at which time wind and solar projects will only get 60 percent of the value of the credit. In 2027, that percentage will drop to 20 percent of the value of the credit, and by 2028, the credit will be completely phased out. This slashing of energy credits for wind and solar will gut the booming clean energy industry and would take the majority of planned projects off the table, raising energy prices and increasing stress on the grid. This will also cut energy supply at a time of significant electricity demand growth.

  • For hydropower, nuclear, and geothermal, the credit will remain available at 100 percent of the credit value through 2033, 75 percent of the value in 2034, 50 percent of the value in 2035, and 0 percent in 2036. 
  • This proposal also restricts access to the credit for prohibited foreign entities. No credit will be given to a facility beginning construction after 2025 that includes any material assistance from a prohibited foreign entity, and no credits given after enactment if the taxpayer is a prohibited foreign entity. 
  • This bill would deny credit for taxpayers who rent or lease the property to a third party, except for geothermal heat pumps.

Now, let’s examine the Technology-Neutral Energy Production Tax Credit (PTC). This provision phases out PTC for wind and solar, beginning in 2026, at which time wind and solar technologies will only get 60 percent of the value of the credit. In 2027, that percentage will drop to 20 percent of the value of the credit, and by 2028, the credit will be completely phased out. 

  • For hydropower, nuclear, and geothermal, the credit will remain available at 100 percent of the credit value through 2033, 75 percent of the value in 2034, 50 percent of the value in 2035, and 0 percent in 2036. 
  • This bill would deny the credit for wind and solar leasing to residential customers.
  • Just like the ITC, this provision restricts access to the credit for prohibited foreign entities. No credit will be given to a facility beginning construction after 2025 that includes any material assistance from a prohibited foreign entity, and no credits given after enactment if the taxpayer is a prohibited foreign entity

1b. Changes from House Version

The House version phases out the energy tax credits for projects not placed in service before the end of 2028 or that begin construction after 60 days of enactment, with full repeal occurring in 2032. 

By contrast, the Senate bill proposes an aggressive phase-down for wind and solar projects—only being able to take advantage of 60% of the credit in 2026 and 20 percent in 2027. Ultimately, the credits for wind and solar will be phased out in 2028. In the Senate version, the credits for hydropower, geothermal, and nuclear are extended to 2035, with a diminished credit value after 2033. Unlike the House version, this bill text does not mention transferability except that it won't be allowed for transfers to specified foreign entities. 

1c. Key Impacts

The aggressive phase down will take the majority of planned or proposed projects off the table—effectively terminating the credits and crushing the booming manufacturing and clean energy industries for communities across the United States. Repealing the clean energy tax credits would worsen the affordability crisis, raise energy bills, harm grid reliability, kill jobs, and inflame the climate crisis.

  • Skyrocketing energy prices: The Senate’s proposed repeal of the clean energy tax credits would raise American household energy bills. It could increase annual energy bills up to $140-$220 per household across the country in 2040, and over $500 per year in some states. 
  • Kill good-paying jobs: Full repeal of the 45Y and 48E clean energy tax credits alone would result in roughly 100,000 fewer full-time jobs across the country by 2040. The Senate bill could approach those levels of job loss.
  • Repealing clean energy tax credits would harm grid reliability: These tax credits are enhancing grid reliability in the face of increased electricity demand and extreme weather. Clean energy is the fastest, cheapest way to add new power to the grid. In fact, clean energy accounted for 93 percent of the new energy capacity added to the U.S. grid last year.

These changes jeopardize billions of dollars of existing investments. Saving the 45Y and 48E tax credits would cut climate pollution by 300 to 400 million tons compared to no tax credits in 2035. That’s 29-46 percent lower than a scenario without clean energy tax credits. After a year marked by devastating, billion-dollar climate disasters, floods, and fires, it’s more important than ever that we address climate head-on.

 

 

2. Electric Vehicle Credits (45W, 30D, 30C, 25E)

The IRA’s electric vehicle (EV) tax credits have been rapidly accelerating America’s clean auto industry and job growth, while making EVs more financially accessible for some families. Households and commercial companies can receive tax credits for purchasing new electric vehicles (up to $7,500) and used electric vehicles (up to $4,000), as well as for chargers and installation. 

2a. Summary of Senate Text

This proposal would end EV tax credits for new (30D) and used (25E) EVs, commercial clean vehicles (45W), and fueling infrastructure (30C). This bill distinguishes between heavy-duty commercial vehicles (considered under commercial vehicle requirements) and light-duty commercial vehicles (considered under personal vehicle requirements). 

2b. Changes from House Version

The Senate timelines would eliminate the credits faster than the House bill proposal. It fully repeals vehicle credits within 90 to 180 days after enactment, and vehicle charging credits within one year after enactment. 

  • The used EV tax credit is eliminated at the end of 2025 in the House version. In the Senate version, it’s within 90 days of passage. 
  • The new EV tax credit is eliminated at the end of 2025 in the House version, and within 180 days in the Senate version. In the House bill, drivers can get a tax credit for qualified vehicles from manufacturers who have not yet hit the 200,000 EV cap through December 31, 2026. There is no such provision in the Senate bill. 
  • The new clean commercial vehicle credit is eliminated at the end of 2025 in the House version. In the Senate version, they are terminated for vehicles acquired more than 180 days after enactment. For vehicles acquired after June 16, 2025, there is no guarantee for credit with a written binding contract, like in the House bill. Instead, the bill imposes additional requirements for light-duty vehicles acquired beginning June 16th.
  • Vehicle charging infrastructure is eliminated at the end of 2025 in the House version, and it is eliminated a year after bill enactment in the Senate version.

2c. Key Impacts

  • Fully repealing the IRA’s EV tax credits would drive a wrecking ball through the American-made EV industry, leading to the potential cancellation of as much as 100 percent of all planned construction and expansion of American EV assembly capacity. That’s according to the latest analysis from Princeton University’s ZERO Lab, assuming that the EPA’s tailpipe emissions regulations are repealed alongside the 30D and 45W tax credits. The same analysis finds that roughly 8.3 million fewer EVs and plug-in hybrids could be driving on American roads in 2030.
  • For households, new and used electric vehicles would become less financially accessible, meaning consumers would have fewer transportation options.
  • Repealing the EV tax credits would cause major job losses, according to the CEO of the Ford Motor Company, and benefit China, according to General Motors.

 

 

3. Manufacturing Credits (45X and 48C)

The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Production Credit (45X) provides an incentive to manufacturing facilities that produce clean energy components or systems in the U.S. Facilities that produce solar, wind, advanced batteries, and certain critical minerals are rewarded for re-shoring supply chains in America. The Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (48C) incentivizes investment in advanced energy projects such as clean energy manufacturing and recycling, critical mineral processing, and industrial decarbonization projects. The 48C tax credit supports the development of a domestic supply chain for these clean energy projects. 

3a. Summary of Senate Text

Advanced Energy Manufacturing Production Credit (45X):

The Senate proposal will phase out credits for producing critical minerals by 2034, while wind component manufacturing credits would end in 2027. There are significant restrictions on the type of battery components that would be eligible for the credit, although the timeline for phasing out the credits for solar energy, battery, and inverters remains the same. The credits would also be weighed down with so many restrictions on eligible components that they are functionally useless. 

Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (48C):

Under the IRA, if a project certified to receive a credit failed to place their project within service after two years, the credit funds they received would be returned to the 48C program and eligible for reissuance. The Senate text restricts those returned funds from being reissued.

3b. Changes from House Version

Advanced Energy Manufacturing Production Credit (45X):

The Senate version is a slightly slower phaseout for solar components, battery components, inverters, and critical minerals, but the same timeline for wind phaseout. The rules for which batteries are eligible for the credit and how components can be integrated are also new. The Senate bill also has a slightly different set of FEOC requirements, but the outcome is the same—restricting the eligible pool of recipients so severely as to make the credit largely unworkable.

Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (48C):

48C was untouched in the House version.

3c. Key Impacts

The 45X Advanced Energy Manufacturing Credit has sparked a renaissance in U.S. manufacturing, especially for electric vehicles, advanced batteries, and solar energy and their supply chains. The credits have helped incentivize over $200 billion in new investment in the U.S. and positioned the U.S. to be competitive in critical 21st-century global industries. This incentive has contributed to job and manufacturing growth—most of which is in districts that Republicans represent. The GOP’s call for repeal would directly harm jobs and livelihoods of their constituents, and send American manufacturing jobs overseas. 

The restrictions placed on the 45X credit will cause uncertainty for developers and investors who have already counted on receiving this credit before this artificial two-year timeline was inserted by the Senate. This proposal threatens the certainty of building these facilities and the jobs that come with them. It also means the credit will be repealed after two years, not allowing for the recycling of rescinded credits from unsuccessful projects to qualified ones.

 

 

4. Home Energy Efficiency Credits (25C, 45L, 179D)

Thanks to the IRA, households can take tax credits of 30 percent off (up to $2,000) for installing a heat pump or heat pump water heater, plus $1,200 for weatherization and insulation via the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C). The 25C tax credit helped 2.3 million American families improve their homes and reduce their monthly energy bills in 2023. Families are saving an average of $130 a year in energy costs. By 2032, homeowners are expected to use the credit enough to cut peak electric demand by 3,400 MW.

The New Energy Efficient Home Credit (45L) provides incentives to builders of homes that meet Energy Star or Zero-Energy Ready Home standards. This credit has assisted with the construction of nearly 350,000 efficient new homes in 2024 and cut homeowner energy bills by about $450 per year.

The Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction (179D) provides a tax deduction for installing energy-efficient appliances and equipment in commercial buildings, like energy-efficient heating, lighting, and hot water. This deduction applies to building upgrades on existing properties, as well as new construction.

4a. Summary of Senate Text

This proposal eliminates the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C) 180 days after the bill is enacted. It would also eliminate the Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction (179D) and the New Energy Efficient Home Credit (45L), within one year of enactment. 

4b. Changes from House Version

The Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C) is eliminated as of the end of 2025 in the House bill, 180 days after bill enactment in the Senate bill. The New Energy Efficient Home Credit (45L) is eliminated for homes acquired after the end of 2025, unless the home construction began before May 12, 2025, in the House bill. The Senate bill eliminates the tax credit for homes acquired a year after the bill is enacted. The House bill did not include the elimination of the Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction (179D).

4c. Key Impacts

Cutting building energy efficiency credits takes money out of people’s pockets by making home energy upgrades more expensive and raises everyone’s utility bills by reducing efficiency and putting more pressure on the electric grid. Households can currently save $990 per year on utility bills if they utilize the 25C tax credit, and these credits create 240,000 jobs. By effectively terminating the Energy Efficient Home Credit for new buildings, this is a major gut punch to any builders trying to provide new homes to address the housing crisis.

  

 

5. Residential Clean Energy Tax Credits (25D)

Dating back to 2005, the Residential Clean Energy Tax Credit provides households with a 30 percent tax credit for rooftop solar, wind power, geothermal heating systems, and battery systems. In 2023, 1.2 million American families took advantage of the residential clean energy tax credit, and now 5 percent of US households have solar. And all of that small-scale solar adds up, with over 66GW installed, amounting to more than one-third of US solar capacity.

5a. Summary of Senate Text

This bill would eliminate the Residential Clean Energy Credit, which incentivizes homeowners to install solar panels, water heating, fuel cells, wind, geothermal heat pumps, and battery storage facilities 180 days after bill enactment.

5b. Changes from House Version

The Residential Clean Energy Tax Credit is eliminated as of the end of 2025 in the House bill, 180 days after bill enactment in the Senate bill. 

5c. Key Impacts

Households would see higher costs for home energy upgrades and lose access to $1,250 in savings per year on utility bills. At the same time, we would be cutting a huge source of new energy capacity just as demand on the grid is increasing, which will raise energy costs for everyone. Plus, cutting the residential clean energy tax credits would kill hundreds of thousands of jobs in the home energy and rooftop solar sector. 

 

 

6. Foreign Entity of Concern

The Senate Finance bill contains extreme restrictions on the clean energy tax credits through the “Foreign Entity of Concern” (FEOC) provisions. A FEOC has previously been considered an entity that is owned, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction of a particular nation, such as China, Russia, or North Korea. Though FEOC requirements have been imposed in the past (such as through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law), they have not typically interfered with tax incentives. 

6a. Summary of Senate Text

Imposes FEOC requirements on all major clean energy and manufacturing tax credits, including ITC, PTC, and the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, among others. This means that credits are not allowed for any facilities that include material assistance from a foreign entity of concern, or for any projects where the taxpayer is a prohibited foreign entity. 

6b. Changes from House Version

The Senate proposal, like the House bill, makes the FEOC requirements unworkable, risking business certainty and obstructing the ability for projects to obtain and maintain finance. 

6c. Key Impacts

The FEOC restrictions mean that the Senate text effectively repeals the IRA tax credits. They are overly complex and burdensome, and create so much uncertainty for developers and investors that the clean energy tax credits are not worthwhile to pursue. 

  

 

7. Transferability

The transferability provisions for various energy tax credits included in the IRA make it possible for more companies and communities to access tax credits for their cost-cutting, job-creating energy projects. Through transferability, a project sponsor that may not have tax liability can sell its energy tax credit to a third party that does. This reduces the cost of the project and expands the universe of entities that can benefit from these important incentives. Furthermore, transferability has been used to benefit new clean energy technologies and manufacturing facilities, helping to grow new industries that are not reliant upon complex tax equity financing deals.

7a. Summary of Senate Text

This bill would not repeal transferability, with limited exceptions related to FEOC provisions. 

7b. Changes from House Version

The House version fully repealed transferability for all applicable tax credits effective for construction beginning 2 years after the enactment of this bill, and applies to any fuel production-related credits after December 31, 2027. The Senate version leaves transferability largely intact. 

7c. Key Impacts

Transferability broadens capital access, particularly for more local project developers, manufacturers, and fuel producers that have traditionally lacked access to this investment market. In fact, it’s already catalyzed more than $500 billion in private capital since 2022.

 

 

8. Other Impacts to Clean Energy in the Senate Finance Bill 

  • Direct Pay (aka Elective Pay) - Direct pay entities will lose their entire credit if they do not meet domestic content requirements, even where domestic content items are not reasonably available or costs would increase by more than 25 percent.
  • Clean Fuels Credits (45Z) - Extends credit through 2031 but reduces the value of the credit by 20 percent for feedstocks grown abroad, and changes the calculation for lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of fuels.
  • Carbon Capture Credits (45Q) - FEOC requirements added. Enhanced oil or natural gas recovery parity and utilization parity are included. Inflation adjustment was amended. Determined by substituting 2026 for 1990 (originally 2025 for 1990).  
  • Hydrogen Production Tax Credit (45V) -  Fully repeals the clean hydrogen credit for projects starting construction after this year, making all but a handful of new clean hydrogen projects uneconomic and ceding technological innovation and leadership to China and Europe.
  • Nuclear Tax Credit (45U) - Places restriction on the credit if the taxpayer uses fuel produced in a covered nation or entity. Must certify that the fuel used qualifies with the restriction beginning in 2028.

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Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee Analysis

The Senate Committee for Environment and Public Works (EPW) covers, among other things, any elements of the reconciliation bill related to air and water pollution, environmental policy, and public buildings. This part of the reconciliation bill repeals many federal grant programs created by the IRA.

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9. Vehicle Efficiency and Emission Standards

The Department of Transportation (DOT) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. These standards have saved drivers trillions of dollars and drastically reduced harmful pollution from vehicles—reducing smog and health impacts like asthma and heart disease. Rescinding these standards is not allowed by the rules of budget reconciliation, but Republicans are trying to repeal them anyway. 

9a. Summary of Senate Text 

This bill would repeal the EPA air pollution emissions standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles, phasing in over model years 2027 through 2032.

9b. Changes from House Version

This is largely consistent with the House text that repealed these EPA standards, as well as greenhouse gas emissions standards starting in 2023, plus the DOT efficiency standards (which we will likely see in bill text from the Senate Commerce committee).

9c. Key Impacts

If Republicans gut vehicle standards in the final bill as they did in the House bill, we would end up with less efficient and more polluting vehicles, burning 70 billion extra gallons of gasoline through 2050 and increasing climate pollution by more than 710 million metric tons. Eliminating these standards would increase costs by $600 over the lifetime of new vehicles. Increased pollution would lead to greater health risks (asthma, heart disease, cancer) from toxic air pollution. Attempting to repeal these rules via reconciliation would seriously surpass the limits of reconciliation by trying to set regulations via this budgetary process.

 

 

10. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

The $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) is the largest grant program within the IRA. This $27 billion is divided into three programs: the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF), the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA), and Solar for All. Not only does this program provide a significant investment in pollution-reducing clean energy technology and green banks, but it also benefits communities that have been historically overlooked and underserved, bringing greater equity to the clean energy transition. For months, the Trump administration has waged an unsubstantiated assault on this fund. At every turn, the administration has been unable to justify its attacks to undermine this program, failing to offer evidence to support its bogus claims of fraud, waste, or abuse.

10a. Summary of Senate Text 

Senate Republicans would repeal Section 134 of the Clean Air Act, which created the GGRF. All unobligated balances from the GGRF program would be rescinded.

10b. Changes from House Version

There is no change from the House version.

10c. Key Impacts

The GGRF is unlocking a historic wave of public and private investment, delivering local economic development opportunities that would not have materialized without this program, especially in disadvantaged communities. But the Trump administration has already been attacking the GGRF through an illegal funding freeze, and a court battle is currently raging with program awardees, in particular the NCIF and CCIA programs. The GGRF funding has technically been obligated, and only minimal GGRF funds remain unobligated and available for rescission. But the EPW bill will harm program implementation and oversight at EPA. It may also represent an attempt by Congress and the administration to block or claw back funds that have been legally obligated.

 

 

11. Climate Pollution Reduction Grants 

The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) are an EPA program established as part of a new Clean Air Act Section 137 created in the IRA, which provides grants to state, local, and Tribal governments to create and implement programs that reduce emissions and support jobs and communities. It was funded with $5 billion, including $250 million in planning grants, $4.6 billion for implementation grants, and the remaining balance for technical assistance and program implementation. These grants have been used to support state, local, and Tribal governments in nearly all 50 states.

11a. Summary of Senate Text 

Senate Republicans would repeal Section 137 of the Clean Air Act, eliminating the CPRG program. Any unobligated funds would be rescinded.

11b. Changes from House Version

The Senate version is the same as the House version.

11c. Key Impacts

The CPRG program is a primary vehicle for states to fund their pollution reduction programs. Rescinding unobligated funding for the CPRG program would dramatically harm program implementation at the agency. Many awarded states could have to stall or permanently halt their pollution reduction plans that were intended to create jobs, reduce energy and transportation costs, and mitigate pollution in impacted communities.

 

 

12. Environmental Justice Block Grants

This first-of-its-kind $3 billion federal program aims to empower disadvantaged communities to determine and design their own visions of pollution reduction and clean energy investment. The Environmental Justice (EJ) Block Grants, also known as the Community Change Grants, provide highly flexible funding that goes directly to nonprofit organizations serving these communities. This means projects are designed by and for communities to address their unique needs and build resilience to extreme weather events and environmental risks.

12a. Summary of Senate Text 

Senate Republicans want to completely repeal Section 138 of the Clean Air Act, eliminating the Environmental Justice (EJ) Block Grants program, and rescinding any unobligated funding.

12b. Changes from House Version

The Senate version closely mirrors the House version.

12c. Key Impacts

Without EJ Block Grants, there will be less financial support for on-the-ground, community-led organizations that provide life-changing services to households based in disadvantaged communities or living near sacrifice zones. Examples of critical services include community-led pollution monitoring, prevention, and remediation; projects that reduce indoor air pollution; projects to counter health risks from urban heat islands, extreme heat, and wildfires; improved community engagement in public processes; and technical assistance. Much of these funds are unobligated.

 

 

13. Methane Emissions and Waste Reduction Incentive Program

Methane is a potent, planet-heating greenhouse gas that oil and gas operators often flare or leak into the atmosphere. That’s why Congress passed the Waste Emissions Charge (WEC) through the IRA in 2022, requiring oil and gas operators to pay a penalty fee if they exceed a certain level of methane pollution. Soon after, the Biden-led EPA introduced a rule implementing the WEC. But at the beginning of 2025, the Republican-controlled Congress voted to eliminate that rule. Now, Congress is trying to get rid of the fee outright via the budget reconciliation bill. 

13a. Summary of Senate Text 

Senate Republicans want to repeal Section 136 of the Clean Air Act. Unobligated balances are rescinded. A fee on excessive methane waste is retained, but the language is now altered so the collection of charges are postponed to 2034, as opposed to 2024 under current legislation. This renders the fee largely ineffective for the next decade.

13b. Changes from House Version

The Senate version is virtually the same as the House version.

13c. Key Impacts

By cutting methane pollution and other harmful pollutants, the WEC would have helped prevent asthma attacks and other health-harming impacts. The program would have reduced an extremely harmful greenhouse gas superpollutant. Altering the WEC will disproportionately impact communities of color and disadvantaged communities. The methane fee is also a revenue raiser, so its alteration increases the budget deficit and would necessitate even deeper cuts to other vital programs to comply with the GOP’s self-imposed spending cut targets.

 

 

14. Opt-In Fee Program Impacting the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is our nation’s bedrock environmental law. It requires federal agencies to assess the environmental impact of all major proposed government projects. 

14a. Summary of Senate Text 

Senate Republicans have created a new “opt-in fee” mechanism that would allow project sponsors to receive special treatment in the environmental review process. Additionally, the fee would allow projects to avoid judicial review of findings, drastically curtailing the rights of affected communities to petition the courts.

14b. Changes from House Version

This is similar to the House version.

14c. Key Impacts

This is a continuation of the “pay-to-play” politics we saw in the GOP’s House version, but this time, the bill is attacking the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which provides for environmental reviews of all major government actions. We also expect to see similar “pay-to-play” provisions in the Senate ENR text related to liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and expedited gas permitting.

 

 

15. Other IRA Programs Affected by the Senate EPW Bill 

The Republican EPW Committee also repealed and/or rescinded any unobligated funds from the following IRA programs: 

  • Air pollution monitoring program for schools in low-income and disadvantaged communities at EPA.
  • American Innovation Manufacturing (AIM) Act aims to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)—potent greenhouse pollutants used in refrigeration, air conditioning, and other applications. The EPW proposes to eliminate funding that helps implement this important bipartisan law.
  • Diesel Emissions Reduction Program at EPA for grantmaking to reduce diesel emissions from facilities and goods movement in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
  • Funding for Efficient, Accurate, and Timely Reviews at EPA to enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and timeliness of environmental reviews, permitting, and project approvals.
  • Efficient and Effective Environmental Reviews, which support expediting the environmental review and permitting processes. This provision was not included in the House bill.
  • Funding for Endangered Species Act (ESA) Recovery Plans is rescinded, which is a provision not included in the House bill.
  • Enforcement Technology and Public Information at EPA.
  • Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) at EPA for construction materials and products. This initiative aimed to enhance the standardization, transparency, and reporting criteria for EPDs, which include measurements of the embodied greenhouse gas emissions associated with materials and products used in construction. 
  • Environmental Review Implementation Funds, which provide funds to the Federal Highway Administration to review transportation projects by providing guidance, assistance, and training to state, local, and Tribal governments. 
  • Environmental and Climate Data Collection, which provides funding for data collection efforts on the disproportionate harms and cumulative impacts resulting from pollution and climate change. 
  • Fenceline pollution monitoring program at EPA monitors pollution, particularly in communities near polluting facilities.
  • Greenhouse Gas Air Pollution Plans and Implementation Grants, which provide funding to states, local governments, and Tribes to develop and implement “Climate Change Action Plans” and environmental justice initiatives. 
  • Greenhouse Gas Corporate Reporting at EPA to enhance the standardization and transparency of corporate climate action commitments and plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
  • Heavy Duty Vehicle Electrification at EPA for grantmaking for heavy-duty vehicles in non-attainment areas.
  • Low Carbon Materials Grant Program at DOT for grantmaking to support the use of low-carbon materials in construction projects. 
  • Lowering Embodied Carbon Labeling for Construction Materials, including developing a program for identifying and labeling construction materials with substantially lower levels of embodied GHG emissions compared to industry averages. This initiative was designed to promote the use of low-carbon materials in construction projects, particularly in federal buildings and transportation infrastructure.
  • Low Emissions Electricity Program, which funds a wide range of activities to encourage low-emissions electricity generation and reinforced EPA’s authority to regulate carbon pollution.
  • Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program, which would improve walkability, safety, and affordability in transportation, as well as mitigate and remediate impacts from transportation facilities. 
  • Renewable Fuel Program at EPA for grantmaking for advanced biofuels.
  • Various Green and Efficient Government Building Programs, including use of low-carbon materials and emerging technologies in federal government building projects.

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Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENR) Analysis

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) covers policies related to energy resources and development, which include regulations and conservation efforts, nuclear energy, as well as Tribal affairs, public lands and their renewable resources, and federal leasing and related activities. This component of the reconciliation bill repeals critical IRA programs that were putting the nation on track to be energy dominant, while also codifying a pay-to-play system for oil and gas companies to extort American lands.

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16. Oil, Gas, and Coal Leasing Handouts

America’s public lands and waters are precious — and coal, oil, and gas extraction that currently occurs there must end if we want to align with the latest climate science. But in this bill, the GOP has promised to further plunder lands currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) — while slashing the royalty rates paid by oil and gas corporations to exploit America’s public lands.

16a. Summary of Senate Text

This bill would lower the fees required to lease land for oil and natural gas drilling and establish a timeliness requirement for oil and gas lease sales that have undergone an environmental review and the Mineral Leasing Act process. The bill also sets a floor for a minimum number of onshore and offshore oil and gas sales annually and lowers barriers to leasing. It would retroactively apply a 2016 approval for environmental review for offshore drilling in the National Outer Continental Shelf. It would expand approval for additional infrastructure to support drilling in communities. This bill would enable non-competitive leasing processes, further lowering the barrier to access for big oil to exploit U.S. public lands. And it would also repeal the Obama-era moratorium on new federal coal leases, while cutting the royalty rates on new and existing coal leasing.

16b. Changes from House Version

 The Senate bill focuses on bolstering oil and gas drilling lease sales and reducing lease fees and requirements outside of the environmental review process. 

16c. Key Impacts 

Leasing is competitive, so that we can ensure the best and most efficient use of taxpayer dollars and reduce opportunities for corruption. This bill opens the door to backroom dealing through expanded noncompetitive processes and reduced fees. This bill also encourages gas and oil drilling nationwide, which will increase air pollution, increase greenhouse gas emissions, and hold our national economy back by supporting reliance on non-renewable energy resources. This bill expands opportunities for oil and gas companies to build in and across communities, which will exacerbate harms for communities with the least resources to push back.

 

 

17. Rubberstamping Liquified Natural Gas Exports

Under the Natural Gas Act, the Department of Energy (DOE) has the authority to determine whether proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to non-Free Trade Agreement countries are in the “public interest” or not. This is part of a wider review process when considering proposed LNG export facilities.

17a. Summary of Senate Text

This bill would allow the Department of Energy to determine that a liquified natural gas export facility is in the public interest if the applicant pays $1 million. 

17b. Changes from House Version

The Senate version is the same as the House version.

17c. Key Impacts 

This normalizes a pay-to-play privilege for LNG export infrastructure, potentially expediting the build-out of these mega-projects. Unlimited U.S. gas exports will cost working Americans more money.  DOE’s own studies show that this will raise electricity and gas prices at home and drastically increase climate pollution. Medical professionals and frontline leaders have long documented the devastating health, economic, climate, and local environmental harms from this kind of fossil fuel infrastructure, particularly in the Gulf South.

 

 

18. Derailing Transmission Reforms

There are several IRA programs at DOE that support the expansion of electricity transmission infrastructure in the U.S. and are critical to providing affordable and reliable power for Americans. These include the Transmission Facility Financing program; the Offshore Wind Electricity Transmission Planning, Modeling, and Analysis program; and the Grants to Facilitate the Siting of Interstate Electricity Transmission Lines. These programs are especially important at a time of rising electricity demand, fueled by data centers to power artificial intelligence (AI), increasing electrification of vehicles and buildings, and an American manufacturing renaissance.

18a. Summary of Senate Text

The bill rescinds any unobligated amounts for Transmission Facility Financing; Interregional and Offshore Wind Electricity Transmission Planning, Modelling, and Analysis; and Grants to Facilitate the Siting of Interstate Electricity Transmission Lines. Together, these programs held nearly $2.5 billion in unobligated funding at the beginning of 2025.

18b. Changes from House Version

The Senate version is the same as the House version.

18c. Key Impacts 

By eliminating programs that make our energy grid a secure and reliable source of affordable power, Republicans are pushing the nation farther away from energy dominance. 

 

 

19. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office

The Department of Energy Loan Programs Office (LPO) was created with strong bipartisan support during the George W. Bush administration, and for the last two decades, it has provided critical financing for American energy, manufacturing, mining, and other industrial projects that reduce emissions and support American leadership in the fast-growing clean energy economy. To date, LPO has financed approximately $90 billion in innovative energy and manufacturing projects, including a $465 million loan to Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors in 2010. At the end of 2024, LPO had collected over $5 billion in interest payments from its loans, meaning that it has made a profit for American taxpayers.

19a. Summary of Senate Text

This bill would completely repeal LPO’s new authority and funding from the IRA, with any unobligated funding rescinded. LPO would return to the smaller version that pre-existed the IRA, along with a smaller $660 million pot of funds under Sec. 1706 for “energy dominance financing” (instead of the IRA’s $4.5 billion for “energy infrastructure reinvestment financing” under the same section).

19b. Changes from House Version

The House bill rescinds unobligated funding, while this version rescinds all IRA funds, except for a renamed “energy dominance financing” program.

19c. Key Impacts 

Eliminating LPO’s new loan authority would be a devastating blow for the U.S., especially amidst rising energy demand and a competitive global race to build and manufacture the energy technologies that will power the 21st century. It would harm American businesses and U.S. technology leadership. Not only that, over the long term, shrinking LPO will cost American taxpayers money, as the successful program has already returned $5 billion in profit to the American taxpayer, via interest on its loans.

 

 

20. Advanced Industrial Facilities Deployment Program 

The Advanced Industrial Facilities Deployment Program (AIFDP) was created in the IRA and funded with over $5.8 billion to advance industrial decarbonization and support American manufacturing’s global economic competitiveness. The program has provided funds for innovative low-carbon cement manufacturing projects in Indiana, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia, for next-generation aluminum manufacturing in Colorado, for low-carbon steel production in multiple states, and much more.

20a. Summary of Senate Text

This bill would fully repeal the Advanced Industrial Facilities Deployment program and rescind any unobligated funding to prevent further investments in industrial innovation. 

20b. Changes from House Version

This is similar to the House version. 

20c. Key Impacts 

Rescinding unobligated balances and eliminating the AIFDP program would deal a major blow to U.S. global economic competitiveness as American businesses fight for market share in increasingly decarbonized steel, cement, aluminum, and other heavy industries.

 

 

21. Other IRA Programs Affected by the Senate ENR Bill 

The Senate ENR bill also would repeal the following IRA programs and rescind any unobligated funds:

  • State-Based Home Energy Efficiency Contractor Training Grants - Grants that provided financial assistance to states for the development and implementation of state-based programs that allowed for energy efficiency and electrification improvements, reducing costs for homeowners. These grants supported employee training for contractor jobs in many states. 
  • Royalties on Extracted Methane - This program imposed royalties on all methane extraction from onshore and offshore leases.

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Conclusion

In a nutshell: Senate Republicans are taking money out of working people’s pockets to give tax breaks to billionaires. 

Throughout the entire reconciliation process, the GOP has been taking a wrecking ball to dozens of programs that make energy affordable for households, reduce toxic pollution, combat the climate crisis, provide life-changing healthcare, and nourish families with food assistance. 

Though this analysis has focused on Evergreen’s priority IRA climate programs found in the Senate Finance, EPW, and ENR bills, we anticipate that other life-changing federal programs will be gutted. The full bill is expected to go through the “Byrd bath” and then to the Senate floor in the coming weeks. If passed, it could be signed into law by the president soon after.

 

 

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