Biden’s climate law is dead. The energy transition might not be.

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in 2022, was America's largest climate investment—offering billions in tax credits for solar, wind, electric vehicles, and battery factories. A year ago, President Trump signed the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' repealing nearly all of those subsidies. A year into the repeal, Grist reports the picture is decidedly mixed. The law's most ambitious goal—cutting U.S. carbon emissions fifty percent by twenty thirty-five—is now out of reach. Instead, the country is on track for thirty percent reductions, no better than before the subsidies existed. Yet the clean energy transition hasn't halted. Solar and wind projects remain profitable even without the tax credits. MIT research found that roughly seventy-five percent of new solar and wind capacity expected under the IRA will still come online. The electric-vehicle sector was hit hardest, with over two hundred fifty thousand job losses. But some canceled projects are finding new paths—battery plants retooling to store solar energy instead. The energy landscape is rockier without the subsidies, but clean energy momentum persists.

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