New Senate Budget Reconciliation Language Is a “Fossil Fuels Fever Dream Come to Life”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate released new language for its tax and spend budget reconciliation bill overnight that would not only end incentives for renewable energy but also sets punitive taxes on wind and solar generation. Taken together, these changes could spell a tax increase of 50 percent or more for certain projects.
Following is reaction from Christy Goldfuss, executive director at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
"The new budget reconciliation bill text is a shocking fossil fuels industry fever dream come to life. The corruption on display is galling.
“The bill has gone from fossil fuels boosterism to an active effort from Congress to kill wind and solar energy in the United States. This cannot be viewed as anything other than a ‘Trump energy tax.’
“This bill was already going to force the biggest utility bill increase in history, but the new language can only be interpreted as a corrupt effort to advance oil, gas, and coal on the backs of everyday Americans. This is a shocking effort to manipulate energy markets, siphon money from every household in the country, kill jobs, and shut-down the fastest growing segment of the energy economy—all to enrich the barons at the helm of the most profitable enterprise in history.
“The administration claims that we are in an energy emergency, making it the wrong time to choke off the cheapest and fastest-to-deploy sources of energy.”
Note: Reference in the original lede of the statement was updated on June 29, 2025, to reflect that provisions which would have kicked off the largest sale of public lands in American history were removed from the bill overnight.
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC Indi\a Pvt. Ltd).