Did anyone besides me hear happy hollering last week? Probably so – the Democrats in the U.S.A. unexpectedly delivered a piece of legislation which, in the current conflicted context, can reasonably be called a win for the so-called green economy.
Also known as Build Back Better’s Baby Brother in disguise, the bill does contain some important, and even some surprisingly positive provisions, such as: tax credits to encourage further deployment of wind and solar power, as well as development of geothermal (one of the surprises);
tax credits to encourage businesses to source more of their energy needs from renewables; tax credits for carbon capture technology; and tax credits for the nuclear industry, with special reference to the new generation “mini-nukes,” but also including older reactors, some of which would have been retired either this year or next (another surprise). So, big wins for the energy industry.
Now, some of the hollerings might not have been as happy as some of the provisions are markedly less positive. Most spectacularly, excluding both Tesla and Lucid Motors’ high-value (and pricey) cars from the consumer tax credit.