Inside Biden's trillion-dollar cash dash

Your guide to the political forces shaping the energy transformation

May 08, 2024 View in browser   By Arianna Skibell Illustration by Jade Cuevas/POLITICO (Source images via AP, Getty Images; Juan Diego Reyes and Jamie Kelter Davis for POLITICO) A POLITICO deep dive published today pulls back the cloak on one of the most consequential questions coming out of the November election: What happens to President Joe Biden’s massive climate, energy and infrastructure agenda? Biden succeeded in getting Congress to approve $1.6 trillion in spending and tax breaks aimed at greening the economy, rebuilding infrastructure, reviving U.S. manufacturing and outcompeting China. But much of that money remains unspent just six months before Biden’s rematch with former President Donald Trump, according to a monthslong analysis by reporters Jessie Blaeser, Benjamin Storrow, Kelsey Tamborrino, Zack Colman and David Ferris. Trump has said he intends to lay waste to many of Biden’s policies, specifically singling out the many billions of dollars in support for electric vehicles and wind. So there’s a lot at stake if the Biden administration cannot make a bigger dent in the backlog. Now for the details: According to the POLITICO review, the administration has spent less than 17 percent of the total $1.1 trillion in direct investments that Congress provided for these priorities in Biden’s climate, infrastructure, semiconductor and pandemic-relief laws. Administration officials like to focus on much larger numbers — such as the $583 billion of this funding that agencies have either announced or obligated. As the story notes, even the promise of federal dollars or tax breaks has jump-started domestic manufacturing and fueled a boom in clean energy projects. In Georgia, for example, Hyundai is stepping up its efforts to finish an EV and battery factory to qualify for federal tax credits. But for many projects, the real-world progress has lagged the grand announcements. A $7.5 billion effort to expand the supply of EV chargers has led to only eight charging plazas being installed to date, because states first had to submit plans for using the money. Many clean hydrogen projects won’t be able to claim a new tax credit worth billions of dollars until federal guidance is finished. Other EV, battery, solar and wind projects have been delayed or canceled amid uncertain markets or worries about inexpensive Chinese imports. Then there’s Trump: The former president hasn’t made it clear how far he might go to shred Biden’s energy, infrastructure and climate programs, including all the projects being planned in red states. Trump has argued he should have the right to “impound” congressional appropriations he considers wasteful, and that a 1974 law that says otherwise is unconstitutional. Biden’s biggest chance at a durable legacy may rest with getting as much progress made on the ground as possible in the months or years he has left in the White House. “When those projects are built, they're very hard to rip back,” White House senior clean energy adviser John Podesta told our reporters in an interview.   It's Wednesday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Arianna Skibell. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to askibell@eenews.net.   THE GOLD STANDARD OF ENERGY POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries, like energy, equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists. Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other. Our energy reporting team—including Ben Lefebvre, Alex Guillen and Kelsey Tamborrino—is embedded with the market-moving legislative committees and agencies in Washington and across states, delivering unparalleled coverage of energy policy and the energy industry. We bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY.   Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Josh Siegel chats with colleagues Jessie and Benjamin to understand more about the reporting behind the POLITICO analysis and what’s at stake for Biden’s legacy. Power Centers John Podesta, a senior climate adviser to President Joe Biden, will meet with his Chinese counterpart Wednesday. | John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images Podesta’s climate gambit with China Podesta, the White House senior clean energy adviser, is meeting today with his Chinese counterpart, Liu Zhenmin, in their first formal face-to-face talk since both men assumed their new roles as climate diplomats earlier this year, write Sara Schonhardt and Scott Waldman. Podesta's dual roles of diplomat and overseer of Biden's climate agenda, which includes besting China in the race for clean energy, put him in a strange position. He must both coax China to reduce its climate pollution while pursuing U.S. objectives that could hamper those efforts. Murkowski threatens to cut Interior spending Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a top appropriator, suggested cutting Interior Department spending until the administration reverses its decision to block a proposed mining road and further restrict drilling, writes Garrett Downs. “All I can think of is if Interior is going to use its funding to make these kinds of decisions that penalize my state in this way, then I feel like what we need to be doing here is looking for ways to cut the department’s budget until the department gets the point,” she said. Azerbaijan’s charm offensive is backfiring Azerbaijan scored a major diplomatic victory when it won the right to host this year’s COP29 U.N. climate talks, write Gabriel Gavin and Sara. But the country is now facing the downside of being center stage: an intense scrutiny of the how the regime exerts foreign influence, jails its critics, enacts political crackdowns and champions fossil fuel dealmaking. One case in point was last week's bribery charges against Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas). In Other News Heated: Hundreds of the world's top scientists said they expect global temperatures to surpass 2.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, a catastrophic possibility. Climate diplomacy: China is way ahead in green energy. Here’s why that’s risky for the U.S.   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.   Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Then-President Donald Trump, flanked by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (left) and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is seen announcing of the approval of a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline in 2017. | Evan Vucci/AP The U.S. oil industry is drawing up ready-to-sign executive orders for presumptive GOP nominee Trump that push natural gas exports, cut drilling costs and increase offshore oil leases should he win a second term. The most wildfire-prone metro areas in the U.S. are experiencing a development boom that has placed hundreds of thousands of new homes at risk over the past five years. The Biden administration has ended two investigations of Mississippi’s handling of the water crisis in Jackson, finding “insufficient evidence” that state agencies discriminated against the majority-Black capital. That's it for today, folks! Thanks for reading.   Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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