White House senior adviser on clean energy John Podesta said Wednesday it was worth irking European allies over President Biden’s tax and climate spending law because it motivated other nations to more aggressively lean into the green energy transition.
The Inflation Reduction Act and its $370 billion in clean energy tax credits infuriated some of America’s closest economic partners over its incentives for domestic manufacturing for things like electric vehicles and other climate-friendly energy technologies.
“Like, yeah, there’s a certain amount of bitching,” Mr. Podesta said during a Brookings Institution event on the law’s implementation, which he helps oversee. “But I think in reality, what it’s done is spurred action.”
He cited the European Union’s Green Deal Industrial Plan unveiled earlier this year that’s designed to counter U.S. subsidies and promote clean energy in Europe, arguing that it “wouldn’t happen without the Inflation Reduction Act passing.”
“With the bitching comes a little bit more shoulder to the wheel,” Mr. Podesta said. “That’s a good thing.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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