BOSTON — Attorney General Andrea Campbell is leading a group of Democrats calling on Congress to uphold key provisions of a federal law that’s providing hundreds of millions of dollars to states for clean energy technology.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Campbell and 16 other Democratic attorneys general call on them to preserve key provisions of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, including tax incentives that have spurred the creation of new businesses and jobs in key industries.
“As a result of the IRA, our nation is strengthening domestic energy security, reducing energy costs, diversifying our domestic energy resources, rebuilding our domestic manufacturing economy, bolstering and modernizing critical infrastructure, and creating well-paying jobs while simultaneously reducing harmful pollution,” they wrote.
The IRA has “kicked off a major reinvestment in domestic manufacturing” since it became a law, they noted, with private businesses investing nearly $500 billion in low-carbon energy and domestic manufacturing.
“These new opportunities will bring back the types of jobs that we’ve seen flee abroad, while promoting U.S. energy security, leadership, and affordability,” they wrote. “Our states benefit from the growing domestic supply chains, grid reliability, and lower energy prices afforded by investments in our jurisdictions and across the nation.”
Campbell pointed out that Massachusetts has benefited from the law, signed by Democratic President Joe Biden in 2022, including funding for the development of a new clean hydrogen gigafactory in Devens and a new battery technology research and development center in Marlborough, among other projects.
The Healey administration is chasing after more than $17.5 billion in competitive federal grants made available through the IRA — as well as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and CHIPS and Science Act — for local governments to fix potholes and crumbling bridges, upgrade water and sewer systems and other needs.
Incoming Republican President Donald Trump has signaled that he intends to cut IRA spending and to roll back many of President Biden’s climate and energy policies.
House Republicans have made numerous attempts to repeal the law, decrying what they view as wasteful spending in subsidies for electric vehicles, wind, solar and other technologies that they say will hurt U.S. employers and drive up prices for consumers.
But some observers say even with a Republican trifecta in the White House and Congress, repealing the law outright could be difficult. That’s because it is roping in federal money, private investments and jobs to communities across the country that are overwhelmingly represented by Republicans, some of whom publicly support provisions of the law.
“The slimness of majorities in the Senate and House could present challenges for Republican lawmakers in creating a coalition for a full repeal of the IRA, as incentives in the IRA have benefited Republican constituents,” the Brookings Institution, a left-leaning Washington, D.C.- based think-tank, said in a recent blog post.
House Republicans recently sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson calling for the IRA’s energy tax credits to be “spared” from attempts to repeal the law.
In their letter to Johnson and other legislative leaders, the AGs said pulling the plug on those tax credits and other provisions of the could “stymie” projects that are already in the works, “stranding private investments and leaving gaps where jobs and revenue streams were expected.”
“Repealing any one of these incentives would undermine domestic energy security, infrastructure development, and economic progress,” they wrote.
Members of the state’s all Democratic congressional delegation say they will oppose GOP efforts to repeal or weaken the climate law.
“From creating good-paying research and manufacturing jobs in Methuen, Lowell, and Devens to expanding access to heat pumps that will save working families money on their utility bills, Massachusetts has benefited significantly from the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Westford.
“Attorney General Campbell is right – we cannot afford to see this important legislation and its continued investments in the commonwealth repealed,” she said.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.