Staff Reports
The Biden administration’s recently announced plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half will come with a hefty price tag of $10 trillion, according to Jigar Shah, the Director of the Loan Program Office in President Joe Biden’s Department of Energy. This eye-watering cost estimate was shared with The New York Times, in which Shah also stated that Biden’s plan would require funding from the private sector, beyond the $1 trillion that the Inflation Reduction Act could cover. The Loan Program Office, which regulates federal loans for new energy projects, has received an expanded spending budget from the IRA, which now sits at $400 billion.
DOE Official Says Biden’s Climate Pledge Will Cost $10 Trillion https://t.co/zyViQt8Owj
— 🇺🇸 ❤️🙏🏼 Living Today, MAGA .🙏🏼❤️🇺🇸 (@Fred_SAPO) May 11, 2023
Shah claims that his office has become more stringent with loan practices and as a result, is not losing money for the U.S. federal government. “The failed projects of the past clearly wouldn’t get through the office this time around,” he stated. “Now we can look at our portfolio of $38 billion worth of loans and say, actually, we have been pretty good stewards of capital, and we actually make money for the federal government.”
If you're anti-plastic waste, you might be pro CO2 emissions https://t.co/GaqYQdYJUg
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The Loan Program Office is currently evaluating proposals for loans worth $121 billion from a broad range of energy projects, including some from ‘red states’ and fossil fuel companies. Shah admitted that the American entrepreneurs and innovators leading these new projects are the smartest people in the room and said he hoped the government could support them financially to reach their goals.
The Biden administration’s climate-related push aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of 2030 and bring the U.S. to zero net emissions by 2050. However, this plan will require a whopping $10 trillion, and even the $400 billion provided by the Inflation Reduction Act will fall well below expectations. As the administration pushes to enact new carbon capture technology rules, it remains to be seen where the rest of the funds will come from.
In conclusion, it’s becoming more and more apparent that Biden’s climate policies will come at an enormous cost to American taxpayers. Given the current state of the global economy, it’s irresponsible to commit to spending trillions of dollars on a policy that has questionable effectiveness. Instead, we need to focus on finding alternative and innovative ways to reduce emissions rather than spending billions of dollars without clarity.
