GOP lawmaker targets more Biden green largesse for termination
Takes aim at billions handed out by Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, which dumped cash on climate change ideology but didn’t really reduce inflation
Republican Texas Rep. Craig Goldman introduced legislation Friday that would further dismantle the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), former President Joe Biden’s signature climate law.
The Homeowner Energy Freedom Act would save taxpayers $5.7 billion, according to Goldman’s office, by repealing three IRA provisions that limit consumer choice and rescinding unobligated funding for two other sections of the IRA. Though the One Big Beautiful Bill Act scaled back several IRA provisions, President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers, including Goldman, are working to roll back even more green energy subsidies in the bill.
“Americans should have the freedom to choose how to cook their food and heat their homes. That’s why I am introducing the Homeowner Energy Freedom Act to repeal the Biden administration’s extreme green energy mandates that would effectively ban gas stoves and appliances,” Goldman said. “The Homeowner Energy Freedom Act restores homeowners’ choices in home appliances, removes costly regulations, and eliminates wasteful federal government spending.”
The bill would specifically repeal IRA sections 50122, 50123 and 50131. These provisions currently authorize the Department of Energy (DOE) to spend $4.5 billion on an electric home rebate program, $200 million for training contractors to complete “home energy efficiency and electrification improvements,” as well as $1 billion for states to update buildings so they emit less carbon. The IRA programs Goldman is targeting were a key part of Biden’s broad push to electrify buildings and appliances across the country using taxpayer dollars.
Goldman’s bill was introduced by Montana Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy on the Senate side in January.
Democrats initially touted the IRA — the largest piece of climate legislation in U.S. history — as a tool to reduce inflation, though Biden later admitted it was primarily a vehicle to advance his climate agenda. The IRA ran up a massive price tag for taxpayers, with Goldman Sachs projecting that the costs could reach $1 trillion over 10 years. A separate March 11 Cato Institute forecast estimated that IRA tax credits could cost as much as $4.7 trillion by 2050.
Trump ran against the Democrats’ climate agenda, and his administration has moved to roll back many climate-related initiatives, regulations and Biden-era appliance rules.
