The Mackinac Center recently joined a coalition letter signed by more than 50 free-market groups. The coalition has asked Congress to prioritize repealing the Green New Deal provisions of the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.

The Act introduced over $1 trillion in subsidies to promote a transition from reliable fossil fuel and nuclear energy sources to variable, weather-dependent sources such as wind and solar. These subsidies distort energy markets and create other problems for anyone who depends on electricity:

• Reliability Concerns: Transitioning to weather-dependent generation sources poses serious adverse challenges to electric reliability. Wind and solar cannot consistently meet demand, meaning strained electric grids in states like Michigan will face energy shortages during cloudy, windless days. The push for net-zero policies is forcing the rushed closure of reliable fossil fuel and nuclear plants, compromising energy security.
• Financial Burdens and Market Distortions: A trillion dollars in subsidies make wind and solar artificially competitive and skew market dynamics. Spending on wind and solar is driven mainly by these special tax provisions, meaning the decision to build so-called renewables is less about their economic viability than it is about exploiting government-created incentives.
• Ineffective Climate Mitigation: The IRA's approach does not protect the natural environment or address concerns about a changing climate. Emissions from China and India are rapidly growing and overshadowing American climate mitigation efforts.
• Environmentally Harmful: Lavish subsidies encourage a cycle of early "repowering" in which companies requalify for subsidies by dismantling wind turbines and then rebuilding them well ahead of schedule. Shortened life cycles increase costs and create increased environmental impacts. Massive wind and solar facilities gobble up land, use enormous amounts of metals and minerals, and impose increasing harm on wildlife.

Policymakers should repeal the extravagant and wasteful IRA subsidies meant to encourage unreliable and otherwise uncompetitive wind and solar. Repealing these subsidies will help ensure grid reliability, prevent electricity market distortions, and address economic and environmental harms.

View the coalition letter to Congress here.

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