Tuesday's Senate-passed version of President Donald Trump's so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" extended the phaseout of renewable-energy tax incentives and removed a "secret" provision that would have levied an additional tax on solar and wind projects, Politico reported. 

What's happening?

After a tense all-night negotiating session, Senate Republicans finally passed their version of the massive budget reconciliation bill that President Trump has dubbed the "Big Beautiful Bill." Vice President J.D. Vance broke a 50-50 tie in the Senate to pass the bill 51-50, according to Politico.

The Senate bill will next have to be reconciled in the House after changes were made to the version that previously passed there on May 22.

While the bill that ultimately passed the Senate still proposes to impose considerable cuts to renewable-energy incentives contained in the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, the pullbacks were not as harsh as previously threatened, according to Politico.  

One provision that seemingly had entered the Senate legislation out of nowhere was an excise tax on solar and wind projects. 

"It's a secret, I guess," Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, said regarding the origins of the renewable-energy excise tax, per NBC News. "I don't know where it came from." 

Other Republican colleagues echoed Graham's sentiment. 

"It wasn't part of any consideration," said Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator representing Alaska, according to NBC News. "It's like, surprise! It's Saturday night. And we're looking at it like, 'Where did this come from?'" 

"My view of it is — it's just entirely punitive to the wind and solar industry," she added before it was struck, per NBC News. 

After strong opposition from Murkowski and other Republicans, GOP leaders agreed to drop the proposed excise tax on solar and wind projects from the final bill, per Politico, with Republican Sen. John Curtis, who has previously given The Cool Down a tour of his own home to show off his energy-saving upgrades, credited as helping to negotiate the change. 

The Senate-passed bill also extended the deadline for renewable-energy projects to qualify for IRA tax credits, allowing any project that starts within one year of the bill becoming law to qualify, Politico reported.

Under the House-passed version, projects would have had to start within just 60 days of the law's enactment, per Reuters. 

However, under both the House and Senate-passed versions of the bill, these projects must come online by the end of 2027 in order to qualify, whereas the IRA originally gave until 2032, according to Reuters. 

Why are renewable-energy tax incentives important?

When it became law in August 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act represented the United States' largest-ever investment in reducing planet-heating pollution and addressing rising global temperatures, according to the Lancet Regional Health - Americas. 

While the full extent of GOP rollbacks on these investments will not be known until the House and Senate pass the final version of the reconciliation bill, it is clear that Republicans are intent on making significant cuts to programs meant to jumpstart the nation's renewable-energy production. 

Anticipation of these cuts has already had an impact on renewable-energy investment, with opponents arguing that the result will be higher energy bills and lost jobs, per Reuters. 

"Hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. are now in danger," said Ron Wyden, a Democratic senator representing Oregon and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, per Reuters.

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Wyden attributed these potential job losses to "projects all over the country" already "being cancelled" due to the cuts, also according to Reuters.

In order to avoid the worst effects of rising global temperatures, it is vitally important to lower the amount of heat-trapping pollution that enters the atmosphere.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 74% of all such pollution has come from the burning of dirty fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas. To lower this figure, renewable-energy sources like solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal must account for a growing proportion of our energy needs. 

Following its narrow passage in the Senate, including a provision to help the coal industry that shocked Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, the so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" appeared poised to do the exact opposite.

What's being done about renewable-energy tax incentives?

While GOP cuts to renewable-energy incentives would be a major setback to the industry, they would by no means represent the end of progress toward cleaner energy sources like wind and solar.

The shift to a cleaner-energy future is a multi-decade struggle, and private industry and individuals can continue to take action even in the absence of government incentives. Visit the TCD Guide for ideas on how you can make small changes that can add up to make a difference, but most importantly, the biggest way to make a difference is to speak out and use your voice to advocate for what matters to you.

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