Politico by Benjamin Storrow, Kelsey Tamborrino, Brian Dabbs and Jessie Blaeser 11/20/2024
One of President Joe Biden’s signature climate initiatives is on the clock.
The Department of Energy is racing to close $25 billion in pending loans to businesses building major clean energy projects across the country. The push is one of Biden’s last chances to cement his climate legacy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next year under the promise of shredding Democratic spending programs.
The department’s Loan Programs Office emerged as one of Biden’s most potentially powerful tools for greening the economy, making billion-dollar deals to restart a nuclear power plant in Michigan, fund lithium mining in Nevada, and build factories for churning out electric vehicle components in Ohio and Tennessee.
But it faces an uncertain future under Trump, who as president backed only one project under the program and proposed slashing the office’s budget. And Trump’s recent pick to lead DOE, Chris Wright, is a fracking executive who has criticized the use of “large government subsidies and mandates.”
That sets up a high-wire act in the closing weeks of Biden’s presidency — both for DOE and for energy companies seeking a financial lifeline from Washington.
More:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-inks-billion-dollar-climate-203842144.html
