Trump megabill gives the oil industry everything it wants and ends key support for solar and wind
President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act ends long-standing federal support for solar and wind power, while creating a friendly environment for oil, gas and coal production.
The House of Representatives passed Trump’s megabill Thursday ahead of a White House-imposed deadline, after the Senate narrowly approved the controversial legislation Tuesday.
Trump has made his priorities on energy production clear. The U.S. will rely on oil, gas, coal and nuclear to meet its growing energy needs, the president said last weekend, bashing wind and solar power.
“I don’t want windmills destroying our place,” Trump told Fox News in an interview that aired June 29. “I don’t want these solar things where they go for miles and they cover up a half a mountain that are ugly as hell.”
The president’s embrace of fossil fuels and hostility to renewable energy is reflected in his signature domestic policy law. It delivers most of the oil and gas sector’s top priorities, according to the industry’s lobby group, while ending tax credits that have played a crucial role in the growth of solar and wind power.
Oil, gas and coal are winners
The law opens up federal lands and waters to oil and gas drilling after the Biden administration enacted curbs, mandating 30 lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico over 15 years, more than 30 every year on lands across nine states and giving the industry access to Alaska.
The law also slashes the royalties that producers pay the government for pumping oil and gas on federal lands, encouraging higher output.
“This bill will be the most transformational legislation that we’ve seen in decades in terms of access to both federal lands and federal waters,” Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute, n industry lobbying group, told CNBC. “It includes almost all of our priorities.”
The law also spurs oil companies to use a carbon capture tax credit to produce more crude. The tax credit was designed to support nascent technology that captures carbon emissions and stores them underground. Under Trump’s bill, producers would receive an increased tax benefit for injecting those emissions into wells to produce more oil.
The law ends the hydrogen tax credit in 2028, later than previous versions of the bill. Chevron, Exxon and others are investing in projects to produce hydrogen fuel.
“I have a number of members who plan on investing significantly in hydrogen and so the extension to the end of 2028 was a welcome priority that was fulfilled,” Sommers said.
The coal industry is also a big winner from the law, which mandates at least 4 million additional acres of federal land be made available for mining. The law also cuts the royalties that coal companies pay the government for mining on federal land, and allows the use of an advanced manufacturing tax credit for mining metallurgical coal used to make steel.
Solar and wind are losers
The law phases out clean electricity investment and production tax credits for wind and solar that have played a crucial role in the growth of the renewable energy industry. The investment credit has been in place since 2005 and the production credit since 1992. The Inflation Reduction Act extended the life of both until at least 2032.
Solar and wind farms that enter service after 2027 would no longer be eligible for the credits. There is an exception, however, for projects that start construction within 12 months of the bill becoming law.
The phaseout is more gradual than previous versions of the legislation, which had a hard deadline of December 31, 2027. That gave all solar and wind projects just 2.5 years to come online in order to take advantage of the credits.
“Despite limited improvements, this legislation undermines the very foundation of America’s manufacturing comeback and global energy leadership,” Abigail Ross Hopper, CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, said in a statement when the bill passed the Senate.
A related tax credit for using U.S.-made components in solar and wind farms ends for projects that enter service after 2027. A carveout allows projects that start construction within one year of the law’s enactment to claim the credit. The credit was designed to spur demand at U.S. factories in order to break the nation’s dependence on equipment from China.
“If nothing changes, factories start to close,” Michael Carr, executive director of the Solar Energy Manufacturers Association, told CNBC. “Factories that are on the drawing board that probably penciled [favorably] two weeks ago, maybe don’t pencil now. We’ll see investment slow down in the sector going forward.”
Environment
Toyota’s best-selling car may finally go electric: Here’s our first look at the Corolla EV
A fully electric Corolla? Toyota’s best-selling car of all time looks to be finally going electric after the automaker previewed the Corolla EV for the first time.
Is Toyota’s best-selling car getting an electric version?
Since it first launched over 50 years ago, the Corolla quickly became one of the most popular vehicles in nearly every pocket of the globe.
In the late 90s, it even surpassed the Volkswagen Beetle to become the best-selling car in the world, not just Toyota’s.
After holding the crown for over two decades, the Toyota Corolla finally lost its title to the Tesla Model Y in 2023. Although it’s still a top-seller globally, the Corolla appears to be in line for its biggest update yet.
Toyota previewed what appears to be a fully electric Corolla for the first time during a live stream event in Japan on Monday. The commercial showed several “never-before-seen cars” that will be unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show later this month.
One of the concepts shown was a new, seemingly electric Corolla. Outside of the big COROLLA logo on the back, you can hardly tell it’s the sedan Toyota currently has on sale today.
The concept features a closed-off grille and an apparent charge port on the front, hinting it is, in fact, electric. It also draws from Toyota’s latest design theme showcased on new EVs like the updated bZ4X and 2026 CH-R Electric.
It also looks nearly identical to the bZ3, a BYD-powered electric sedan that Toyota has been selling in China since 2023.
Toyota didn’t reveal any other details about the concept, but said the vehicle will appear at the Japan Mobility Show, which starts on October 30, 2025. Press days open on October 29, so check back soon for more info.
Electrek’s Take
The Corolla may be going electric, but don’t expect Toyota to drop the internal combustion engine (ICE) version anytime soon.
Given that Toyota is still standing by its commitment to offer vehicles across all powertrain options, even if it does launch an electric Corolla, it will likely be sold alongside ICE, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid variants.
Either way, an electric sedan would fit in Toyota’s EV lineup, which will include mostly SUVs like the bZ4X (now just the 2026 bZ in the US), CH-R+, and Urban Cruiser.
Would an electric Toyota Corolla compete with the Tesla Model 3? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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![Jetson showcases eVTOL racing concept called the Jetson Air Games [Video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/10/Jetson-eVTOL-racing-hero.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Personal use eVTOL developer Jetson continues to showcase to the public how exciting an aerial eVTOL racing format can be. The company recently showcased a racing format concept it calls the Jetson Air Games, in which four single-rider Jetson ONE eVTOLs raced head-to-head around a series of pylons during the annual UP.Summit. We highly suggest checking out the video footage below.
Jetson is startup founded in 2017 specializing in electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles. By developing smaller eVTOLs, Jetson originally hailed itself as the first competitor to provide commercially available personal aerial vehicles to the public.
And it has.
Last month, Jetson completed its first global customer delivery, which included a Jetson ONE for Oculus founder and tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey.
Before any customer deliveries, however, Jetson had been teasing the idea of using its flagship eVTOL product for racing purposes. In December 2024, the company released footage showing Jetson co-founder and CTO Tomasz Patan demonstrating the precision and agility of the Jetson ONE by navigating around an 8-meter (26ft) tall pylon.
According to a concurrent release, the pylon was a new item that Jetson began producing to encourage and support plans for a new league of eVTOL races. As we pointed out at the time, Jetson’s eVTOL racing idea was nothing new. A team called Airspeeder in Australia has been doing it for years with its own unique eVTOLs it calls “Speeders.”
While Airspeeder has completed eVTOL races, it has yet to do so with actual pilots on board. That’s the goal, but it still hasn’t happened yet, which left the door open for Jetson to be the first with its tech.
Jetson previews eVTOL racing format at UP.Summit
Jetson shared details of its latest milestone following a successful “aerial showcase” at UP.Summit 2025 in Bentonville, Arkansas. Using four Jetson ONE eVTOLs, which at one point formed a “first-ever” four-vessel formation flight, the company introduced the future concept of the Jetson Air Games.
According to Jetson, its Air Games is a new competitive eVTOL format racing designed to “redefine personal air mobility through dynamic aerial sports.” After the four-eVTOL formation (seen above), the Jetson ONE pilots completed a speedy race around the pylons, followed by a solo aerial session by who else but Tomasz Patan, who was also involved in both the formation and the ensuing race. Patan spoke:
Flying for such a large and engaged audience was incredibly special. It was a moment of pride for our entire team and a clear signal that Jetson is ready to lead the next chapter in aviation—and in aerial sport.
Jetson said its eVTOL racing showcase drew plenty of positive feedback from the audience, as well as several investment inquiries. According to the company, its Jetson ONE order is approaching units, representing $75 million in future sales.
The Jetson ONE currently costs $128,000, but the company shared plans to increase that starting price to $148,000, beginning November 3, 2025. As promised, here’s video footage of Jetson’s racing showcase below:
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After the Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit (Section 45W) expired on September 30, the “experts” rushed out predictions of an EV sales slowdown in Q4. But, with over 6,800 pages in the Internal Revenue Code still in play, a turbocharged Section 179 tax credit could still power a strong Q4 for commercial EVs.
The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) of 2025 gutted America’s energy independence goals and ensuring its auto industry would fall even further behind the Chinese in the EV race, but the loss of Section 45W wasn’t the only change written into the IRS’ rulebook. Section 179, an immediate expense reduction that business owners can take on depreciable equipment assets, has been made significantly more powerful for 2025.
The section 179 expense deduction is limited to such items as cars, office equipment, business machinery, and computers. This speedy deduction can provide substantial tax relief for business owners who are purchasing startup equipment.
The revised Section 179 tax credit (or, more accurately, expense reduction) allows for a 100% deduction for equipment purchases has doubled to $2.5 million, with a phase-out kicking in at $4 million of capital investments that drops to zero at $6.5 million. That credit and can be applied to new and used vehicles, as well as charging infrastructure, battery energy storage systems, specialized tools, and more (as long as they’re new to you).
Work the tax credit
“But wait,” as they say. “There’s more!” A revised Section 168(k) also allows for bonus depreciation on eligible equipment and property, accelerating depreciation for a reduced tax burden.
Fleets can take both the bigger Section 179 and 168(k) bonus depreciation allowances, but Section 179 must be applied first, leaving only qualifying purchases over the $2.5 million limit to be taken in bonus depreciation.
It’s a bit convoluted (what good tax code isn’t?), but these tax incentives are great for businesses looking to buy enough electric equipment assets to exceed the Section 179 spending limit – and, given the new Uber/Tesla semi truck purchase plan, the continued growth of the electric terminal tractor market, and the willingness of several utilities to incentivize both electric commercial vehicles and the deployment of smart EV charging infrastructure, that number may be bigger than you think.
Electrek’s Take Disclaimer
Tax law is weird. Not only are there Federal tax laws and rules that need to be followed, but state and even local county and city rules, as well. As such, you want to make sure they don’t get you the way the got Capone.
Even worse, your favorite journalist (Hi!) is probably an idiot. Get a certified accountant and tax law expert to help walk you through the dirtier details of your specific scenario – but don’t let the complexity of human interaction slow you down, either. The really rich guys you know pay pennies on the tax dollar compared to you and me, because they’re not afraid to ask their accountants for help.
The TL;DR version, though, is this: there’s still plenty of incentives out there for fleet operators looking to electrify their operations.
SOURCES | IMAGES: Equipment World, Investopedia, Volvo.
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