Trump and Republican Senators are Trying to Kill Solar and Wind Energy Through the Federal Budget Reconciliation Package.

A number of amendments are likely to be offered today to prevent Trump and his Senate allies from terminating the growth of solar and wind projects, many of which are growing jobs and energy in rural.

President Donald Trump and his allies in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are attempting to de-fund many federal programs through their ongoing budget reconciliation push. While their sights are primarily set on slashing Medicaid and nutrition benefits that pay for poor and working class groceries, most Republicans have special disdain toward the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Many IRA programs—including solar, wind, and electric vehicle (EV) tax credits—would end this year under the updated version of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

The IRA was passed through budget reconciliation in 2022 and has helped to facilitate growth of both commercial-scale and household solar and wind projects since implementation. Many communities and small businesses in rural America have benefited from this growth, along with U.S. manufacturers of clean energy and energy storage components and equipment.

But the White House and Senate Republicans aren’t just trying to kill IRA incentives for solar, wind, and electric vehicle (EV) production; they’re proposing a new excise tax on future solar and wind projects in their updated draft released late Friday (June 27, 2025). Republicans appear ready, willing, and able to end what they call “the Green New Scam” in spite of solar and wind power production representing more than 90% of added electric capacity in the U.S. in 2024:

“With no warning, the Senate has proposed new language that would increase taxes on domestic energy production. In what can only be described as ‘midnight dumping,’ the Senate has proposed a punitive tax hike targeting the fastest-growing sectors of our energy industry,” said American Clean Power Association (ACP) CEO Jason Grumet in a statement. “These new taxes will strand hundreds of billions of dollars in current investments, threaten energy security, undermine growth in domestic manufacturing and land hardest on rural communities who would have been the greatest beneficiaries of clean energy investment.”

In an analysis of the updated Senate reconciliation draft, Evergreen Action found that if the bill passed as is: “Republicans would be responsible for the loss of over 800,000 jobs, raising the average American’s electricity bills by 10 percent, and in a time of intense heat and grid demand, they’ll be reducing new energy capacity installed on the grid by at least 50 percent. All this—simply to line the pockets of billionaires, fossil fuel executives, and their top corporate backers with massive tax cuts.”

North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) agrees with Evergreen and ACP, though it projects even deeper job cuts. NABTU’s President Sean McGarvey issued the following statement in response to the GOP atacks on clean energy through their budget proposal, stating:

“The revised Senate draft released late last night is a massive insult to the working men and women of North America’s Building Trades Unions and all construction workers. This is not what they voted for.

“If enacted, this stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country. Simply put, it is the equivalent of terminating more than 1,000 Keystone XL pipeline projects. In some cases, it worsens the already harmful trajectory of the House-passed language, threatening an estimated 1.75 million construction jobs and over 3 billion work hours, which translates to $148 billion in lost annual wages and benefits. These are staggering and unfathomable job loss numbers, and the bill throws yet another lifeline and competitive advantage to China in the race for global energy dominance.

“Our three million members are ready, willing, and able to build this country into the world’s undisputed energy superpower. But this bill takes their jobs away and undermines that mission. Slashing energy tax credits and layering on harmful restrictions is no way to power America’s future, economically or in terms of national energy security. Critical infrastructure projects essential to that future are being sacrificed at the altar of ideology.”

Several amendments are likely to be offered during the ongoing Senate floor debate. For instance, Politico reported today that Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) will propose an amendment removing the newly added excise tax, as well as extending existing clean energy tax credits to projects that begin construction by 2027. Democrats are also likely to offer related amendments.

If the pro-clean-energy amendments pass and IRA investments continue, some Freedom Caucus Republicans in the House and conservative Senators (who apparently hate “energy dominance” unless it comes from fossil fuels) could actually oppose the full tax cut and spending package. They hate clean energy that much, which seems odd given that around 3/4 of IRA jobs are located in GOP House Districts and as thousands of conservatives have benefited from cheaper clean power for their homes, farms, and small businesses.

Since it doesn’t appear that the votes are there from four or more Republicans to preserve existing budgets for health care and food assistance, passage of a clean energy amendment might be the dagger in the heart of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Frankly, if maintaining job growth in clean energy, preventing increased utility bills, and reducing climate pollution is what leads to the demise of the pro-rich/anti-poor and working class wealth transfer, The Cocklebur will be throwing itself a very fun one-person dance party to celebrate.

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The Cocklebur covers rural policy and politics from a progressive point-of-view. Our work focuses on a tangled rural political reality of dishonest debate, economic and racial disparities, corporate power over our democracy, and disinformation peddled by conservative media outlets. We aim to use facts, data, and science to inform our point-of-view. We wear our complicated love/WTF relationship with rural America on our sleeve.