On Energy, Democrats Swap Net Zero For Net Savings
The surging cost of power offers a viable, if tricky, line of attack on Republicans.
It’s getting expensive just to keep the lights on.
Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
When the Biden administration branded its green industrial policy as “inflation reduction,” not enough Americans were persuaded. Now, picking up the pieces from November’s election defeats and with the midterms just over a year away, the emerging Democratic climate platform could be described as “inflation weaponization.” Energy affordability offers a viable, if tricky, line of attack on Republicans. Utilities and Big Tech should beware, too.
Sharp increases in electricity prices are showing up in inflation data, becoming a key part of New Jersey’s gubernatorial race and even being acknowledged by President Donald Trump’s energy secretary. They are now also shaping Democratic policy and politicking. Representatives Sean Casten of Illinois and Mike Levin of California have unveiled a sprawling blueprint dubbed the “Cheap Energy Agenda.” Although it aims, among other things, to restore the Biden-era tax credits for clean technologies repealed by Republicans, it is no transformational green new deal. Rather, it mostly proposes renewable energy, along with various grid and permitting reforms, as means to temper ballooning bills.