(Bloomberg) —
Major U.S. companies are urging Congress to pass a slew of clean energy tax credits ahead of what could be the best chance for lawmakers to negotiate a spending package before midterm elections.
“America urgently needs further investments in its economic infrastructure, with clean energy and advanced manufacturing at its core,” more than 40 companies said Tuesday in a letter to lawmakers. “While we have built a strong foundation to grow a clean energy economy, uncertainty associated with delay is threatening to undermine our existing U.S. clean energy supply chain and investments.”
The letter calls on Congress to pass a package that includes clean energy tax credits for utility-scale wind, solar, storage, carbon sequestration, nuclear and clean hydrogen, as well as tax credits for EVs and charging infrastructure along with incentives and investments for residential solar projects and clean-energy supply chains.
“The time to invest in and build that economic infrastructure is now,” said the letter from companies including Adobe Inc., EBay Inc. and Lyft Inc. “America cannot afford to wait as other countries gain a competitive edge.”
The lobbying comes as Democrats and the White House work to advance a new version of the so-called Build Back Better Act, with its $550 billion in energy and climate spending that includes some $320 billion in new and expanded tax credits for wind and solar power, nuclear plants, biofuels and advanced energy manufacturing.
Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has said he is ready to restart talks on a slimmed-down reconciliation package that would focus on climate change, prescription-drug prices and deficit reduction. Manchin also indicated he wants to include incentives for domestic fossil-fuel production, which could further complicate Democrats’ efforts to reach a deal.
“The more production we do in America the better it is for the climate because we are replacing it with the dirtiest oil that is coming from different countries,” Manchin told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday. “Anything we produce in America is better than what’s coming from different foreign countries.”
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