U.S. President-elect Donald Trump smiles at the crowd during the National Guard Association of the United States’ 146th General Conference & Exhibition at Huntington Place Convention Center on Aug. 26, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan.
Emily Elconin | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The fate of President Joe Biden’s landmark climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, is in the hands of the incoming Republican-controlled White House, Senate and House of Representatives.
At the White House level, President-elect Donald Trump has already nominated three people to posts in his administration who are likely to be key to the future of the IRA, if they are confirmed by the Senate: hedge fund executive Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary, oilfield services company Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright to lead the Department of Energy, and at the Interior Department, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Any full repeal of the IRA would have to be passed by both chambers of Congress, where Republican lawmakers so far have been reluctant to completely discredit the law’s benefits. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told CNBC in September that he would use “a scalpel and not a sledgehammer” on the IRA.
There’s a good reason for this approach: As of late October, roughly three quarters of the clean energy investments that have been made with IRA funds benefitted congressional districts that backed Trump in the 2020 presidential election, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the clean energy think tank Rhodium Group.
President Joe Biden signs The Inflation Reduction Act with (left to right) Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY; House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-SC; Rep. Frank Pallone, D-NJ; and Rep. Kathy Catsor, D-FL, at the White House on Aug. 16, 2022.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images
But what future Trump Cabinet members would do is also “pretty profoundly important” to the future of the massive legislation, said Tanuj Deora, a former director for clean energy at the Biden administration’s Office of the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer. The agencies hold considerable power over the interpretation and implementation of the IRA’s programs and incentives, like tax credits and business loans.
Renewable energy tax credits are likely safe
A priority for Republicans going into 2025 is extending the expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Trump is looking to extend the tax cuts within his first 100 days in office next year.
This extension would cost $4.6 trillion over the 10-year budget window, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.
“In addition, Trump promised another seven to eight trillion in tax breaks during the last few weeks of the [presidential] campaign,” said Keith Martin, co-head of projects at the law and lobbying firm Norton Rose Fulbright.
The money for all this has to come from somewhere, however, and experts say provisions of the IRA are the most likely candidates for potential cost-savings. In an interview with the Financial Times last October, Bessent called the IRA “the Doomsday machine for the deficit,” suggesting that Trump could dismantle it to cut spending.
Among them, the renewable energy tax credits, especially those for carbon capture technologies, domestic manufacturing and the green economy job transition are well-liked by Republicans, Martin said, and likely to be safe from any potential repeal efforts.
But the current phase-out dates for the IRA tax credits are likely to be accelerated, experts predict, and the Trump transition team is already in talks to completely dismantle a $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric vehicles.
Scott Bessent, who U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to lead the U.S. Treasury Department, walks towards the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), on the day U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will ring the opening bell at NYSE to celebrate being named Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’, in New York City, New York, U.S., December 12, 2024.
Adam Gray | Reuters
Most of the final rules governing implementation of the IRA tax credits have either been finalized or are expected to be by the end of the year.
But there is still considerable fear that the remaining money could be rescinded, frozen or “awarded in ways that are aligned with a shift in priorities” in a new administration, said Julie McNamara, deputy policy director of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“Theoretically, a future Treasury could reverse course on interpretation and implementation, but that would take a long time and would need to be justifiable and defensible if challenged in the courts,” she added.
Business loan programs are in trouble
The more immediate concern, experts say, is the future of the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO), which provides financing for green projects. While Wright has yet to voice an opinion on the LPO, several Republicans have called for scaling it back or doing away with it altogether.
As of November, private companies were seeking more than $300 billion in funding applications from the LPO. Beneficiaries of the loan program have included Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk is co-heading Trump’s outside advisory council, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
The Inflation Reduction Act expanded the LPO’s lending authority and eligibility requirements for projects.
“I think that a lot of the private sector is very concerned about the loan program,” said Claire Broido-Johnson, co-founder and president of Sunrock Distributed Generation, a financier and developer of commercial-scale solar projects. “Everybody’s trying to slam as many projects as they possibly can into this process before the administration changes.”
Liberty Oilfield Services CEO Chris Wright at Liberty January 17, 2018.
Andy Cross | Denver Post | Getty Images
An ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy
With the boom in AI data centers, domestic manufacturing and electrification, the U.S. is facing “a significant challenge in meeting a growing demand for energy,” said Frank Macchiarola, chief policy officer of the American Clean Power Association, which represents renewable energy interests in Washington.
This demand can only be met by an “all-of-the-above” energy policy, Martin says, especially if Trump is planning to reduce energy prices by 50% within his first year, as he promised.
Trump’s potential Cabinet officials in the energy space are consistent with that message, according to both Macchiarola and Deora.
“Burgum has a pretty clear track record in being supportive of all kinds of energy investment and given the very real need for more energy infrastructure of all types, it seems hard to imagine that somebody of his background and his business competence and his governance competence would try to suppress any reasonable technology from being deployed as quickly as possible,” Deora said.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump greets Governor of North Dakota Doug Burgum at a rally, in advance of the New Hampshire primary election in Laconia, New Hampshire, U.S. January 22, 2024.
Mike Segar | Reuters
North Dakota is one of the leading states in wind energy, utilizing the source for more than one-third of the state’s electricity.
As for Wright, although he has denied the existence of a climate crisis, he worked in the solar industry as well as oil and gas, according to Trump’s statement announcing his nomination.
“He’s not necessarily against any technology, he’s just going to be for certain technologies,” Deora said.
Ultimately, an all-of-the-above approach to energy would effectively defeat the purpose of climate policy, even though it might sound reassuring to sectors that would be negatively impacted by a targeted attack on renewables.
“Climate change isn’t about how many solar panels we put up. Climate change is how much carbon dioxide and methane that we do not admit,” said Deora.
“The concern isn’t about whether we keep business and keep solar developers happy. This is really about, are we going to produce more fossil fuels?”
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as he gives remarks outside the West Wing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 8, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
President Donald Trump is standing in his own way when it comes to passing crypto legislation.
Lawmakers this week rejected the GENIUS Act — a bill meant to establish federal rules for stablecoins — due in part to concerns that President Trump’s personal cryptocurrency ventures have created an unprecedented conflict of interest.
“Currently, people who wish to cultivate influence with the president can enrich him personally by buying cryptocurrency he owns or controls,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a statement to CNBC explaining his opposition to the bill. “This is a profoundly corrupt scheme. It endangers our national security and erodes public trust in government.”
Stablecoins are digital currencies that are pegged to the value of other assets, like the U.S. dollar.
Getting anything passed in Congress is a steep uphill battle for Republicans given their razor-thin majority in the House, filibuster-proof requirement in the Senate, and Democrats’ increasingly unified stance against President Trump’s agenda. But enough Democrats appeared to be on board with a stablecoin law to bring about a rare bipartisan win for the president.
That’s until $TRUMP got in the way.
The president’s meme coin, which he launched just before the inauguration in January, has added billions of dollars of paper worth to his coffers. Its value soared last month after the project ran a promotion offering top $TRUMP holders a dinner with the president and a “VIP White House tour.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called it a “pay-for-play scheme.” First Lady Melania Trump has a coin as well.
The GENIUS bill failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday. It needed 60 votes to move to the Senate floor for final passage. The final tally was 48 in favor and 49 against. Three senators didn’t vote.
Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro
Earlier in the week, Senate Democrats unveiled the “End Crypto Corruption Act,” spearheaded by Merkley and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, meant to prohibit elected officials and senior executive branch personnel and their families from issuing or endorsing digital assets.
But the key defections to the stablecoin legislation came last weekend, when a group of nine Senate Democrats — four of whom had previously voted for the bill in committee — said that they wouldn’t support it and called for stronger provisions to address “anti-money laundering, foreign issuers, and national security.”
‘Ongoing self-dealing’
Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware was one of the four. She pointed directly at Trump’s financial entanglements.
“I also remain concerned about the ongoing self-dealing and financial conflicts of interest being carried out by the Trump family,” she wrote in a statement on Thursday.
It’s not just about the $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins. There’s also the Trump family crypto venture World Liberty Financial, which was established last year and launched a stablecoin just as the administration pushed for looser regulations on digital assets.
Reports have indicated that Abu Dhabi-based MGX is using Trump’s stablecoin for a $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance, creating yet another potential conflict of interest for a sitting president.
For some investors and entrepreneurs in the crypto industry, the president’s pursuit of personal profits is creating a major impediment to long-awaited advancements. After years of setbacks during the Biden administration, the crypto lobby became a powerful force in funding Trump’s 2024 campaign and in successfully backing industry-friendly candidates for Congress.
“It’s unfortunate that personal business is getting in the way of good policy,” said Ryan Gilbert, founder of fintech venture fund Launchpad Capital. “I would hope that everybody in the administration, including the president, gets out of the way of good policy.”
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment. At a press conference on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, when asked about the meme coin dinner, that “the president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws.”
“The president is a successful businessman, and I think it’s one of the many reasons that people reelected him back to this office,” Leavitt said.
A number of top Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have joined the parade of critics, targeting President Trump’s personal pursuits. Gillibrand helped introduce the GENIUS Act earlier this year, but she said this week that there are “a number of outstanding issues that needed to be addressed before the bill could pass the full Senate.”
“I believe it is essential to the future of the U.S. economy and to everyday Americans that we enact strict stablecoin regulations and consumer protections where none currently exist,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “I remain extremely confident and hopeful that very soon we can finish the job.”
Sen. Blumenthal called for an investigation into Trump-linked coins, demanding financial records from World Liberty Financial and slamming the president for “the attempted use of the White House to host competitions to prop up the value of $TRUMP.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, had supported the GENIUS Act but said he couldn’t move forward this week after Republicans declined to provide more time to negotiate.
“Without more time to at least finish the bill, there was no true bipartisan path forward,” he wrote on X.
Launchpad’s Gilbert said the GENIUS Act is just the first piece. More broadly, the president’s conflicts could have an impact on hopes for other legislative achievements and deregulation efforts as well as the reputation of the U.S. crypto industry on the world stage.
“We will be the laughing stocks of the world for this particular reason, and it will hold back continued investment and innovation,” Gilbert said. “There was hope for the past six months that that we could lead in the United States, and that investment should pour into crypto-related businesses, and then it will be simpler and doable again, for all companies to take a lead and to invest in crypto assets.”
However, he said, “if the GENIUS Act doesn’t pass, we’re back to square one.”
Volvo Cars has teased an all-new Volvo XC70 plug-in hybrid crossover with 400 hp and 200 km (approx. 125 miles) of all-electric range, giving it the longest battery-only range of any of the company’s plug-in hybrid offerings.
Built on the company’s new SMA platform for extended-range plug-in hybrids, the new XC70 resurrects an iconic name for the brand and represents an important product addition to the lineup and meet the growing demand for longer-range plug-in hybrids – especially in China, where the 2026 Volvo XC70 will be available for order later this year.
“The XC70 marks our strategic entry into the extended-range plug-in hybrid segment, a perfect bridge to full electrification,” says Håkan Samuelsson, president and returning chief executive of Volvo Cars. “[XC70] enables us to maintain and develop a balanced product portfolio, while offering a highly attractive alternative to customers who are not yet ready for fully electric cars. This is also an example of regionalization, where we adapt to the local market needs.”
Early reports indicate that the car shares a platform with the 400 hp Lynk & Co 08. It’s called the “CMA” in Lynk & Co speak, but the short version is 1.5L turbocharged engine and dual electric motors
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Volvo XC70 PHEV SUV unveiled in China
Volvo is a Chinese-Swedish car brand owned by the Geely Group. The Volvo XC70 is a new PHEV SUV with all-wheel drive, designed and developed in China for the Chinese market.
Up front, the XC70 features the same, shield-like closed grille as the brand’s newest all-electric models. It’s paired with an active grille shutter in the bumper that adjusts automatically opens and closes to to optimize for aerodynamics, cabin climate, and cooling – whatever is needed in the moment to maximize energy efficiency and, ultimately, driving range.
The trademark Volvo “Thor’s Hammer” headlight design has evolved into distinctive DRLs – the headlights on the XC70 are actually beneath those, and feature Matrix LED technology that adapts the headlights intelligently to road and traffic situations, helping to improve both visibility and safety without blinding everyone in your path.
Towards the rear, the vertical taillight design creates a modern look consistent with Volvo styling cues … styling cues, by the way, taken from the granddaddy of the entire XC line. The V70 Cross Country. Which, you know, is what “XC” is all about to begin with.
Volvo V 70 XC Cross Country
OG V 70 XC Cross Country; via Volvo Cars.
I mean, sure – the new XC70 isn’t boxy enough, but we all have to make sacrifices in the name of efficiency and ecology, right? And, frankly, if the new ES90 or EX90 models are any indication, XC70 drivers won’t be suffering too badly.
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Members of the US energy industry has committed to investing $100 billion over the next five years to build and buy American-made batteries for large, utility-scale deployments of battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Executives from the American Clean Power Association (ACP) and several utility company representatives said Tuesday that they were committed to a fivefold increase in active investments that could, according to the Association, lead to 100% American-made BESS projects – but that vision depends on both a streamlined permitting environment and predictable tax and trade policy, the ACP said.
Those fundamentals involve rapidly dropping battery costs with increasing density – and that efficiency improvement is coming with reliability, too, Hyundai joining Tesla (and others) in delivering batteries good for hundreds of thousands of miles of driving. The tension, of course, comes from the fact that most batteries, today, are made in Asia.
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Form Energy CEO Mateo Jaramillo says his company sources more than 80% of its battery content in the US and much of the rest from Europe and “non-China Asia.” And, while they’re working to re-shore even more, they remain exposed to heavily tariffed Chinese-made inputs.
Form eventually hopes to source raw iron from US mines in Michigan and Minnesota – and they’re not alone. Executives from other companies spoke up as well:
COVID-era disruptions across the global battery supply chain convinced Fluence that an energy storage market as robust as the United States’ needed a stronger domestic manufacturing base, Fluence Americas President John Zurancik said in the press briefing. The company’s U.S. investments are now bearing fruit as it expects to deliver its first U.S.-made lithium-iron-phosphate, or LFP, batteries this week for deployment later this year, he said.
Like Fluence, LG Energy Solution Vertech expects to significantly expand its U.S. manufacturing operations in 2025 and 2026. The South Korean battery powerhouse will adapt existing production lines at its Holland, Michigan, factory to deliver 16.5 GWh of stationary storage batteries this year and add 11 GWh of new capacity in 2026, its CEO said in a statement provided by ACP.
Even industry stalwarts like Wärtsilä have begun sourcing components for the container-based Quantum 3 BESS system we covered last summer from a geographically diverse set of suppliers, with manufacturing capacity across different regions of North America, Asia, and Europe. This should enable the company’s customers to take advantage of any local tax incentives while avoiding the kind of tariffs impacting global battery markets.
The ACP’s announcement adds about $85 billion to a set of “active investments” worth $10 billion to $15 billion, executives with the trade group said in a press briefing.
Electrek’s Take
250 MW Sierra Estrella BESS project in Avondale, AZ; via SRP.
Then there’s the rich people. Located in Abu Dhabi, the world’s largest storage project will feature a 5.2 GW solar PV plant coupled with a 19 gigawatt-hour (GWh) BESS. You can check that out here, then let us know what you think of all these projects in the comments.