Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent told Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden during his confirmation hearing Thursday that the United States is not in a clean energy “arms race” with China.
President-elect Donald Trump intends to direct unused funds from President Joe Biden's climate change law, the Inflation Control Act (IRA), to infrastructure spending, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported in late November. Ta. As Mr. Wyden appeared to suggest that this would be a disadvantage for the United States in the competition with China over clean energy advances, Mr. Bessent said that his American adversary plans to build a large number of coal-fired power plants in 2025. He claimed that. (Related: Millions of taxpayer dollars meant for border wall construction are just sitting there, watchdog reveals)
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“My last question, it's about the bill that was written in this room that is the biggest clean energy reform in American history. package.’ And we basically said we’re going to have a technology-neutral system,” Wyden said. “The more you reduce carbon, the bigger the tax savings. There's a huge effort in the Trump administration right now to reverse that. I think that's bad for the economy, but for China. That's going to be very good, because we're in a clean energy arms race with China. Are you going to stand with the people who want to figure this out?”
“Let me explain this to everyone in the room: China is going to build 100 new coal-fired power plants this year. There is not a clean energy race, there is an energy race. China. plans to build 10 nuclear power plants this year, and it's not solar power,” Bessent said. “I am in favor of building more nuclear power plants, and I would like to note that the IRA was scored by the CBO. [Congressional Budget Office]out of control in terms of upward spending. ”
Wyden responded that he was “very troubled” by Bessent's rejection of the idea that the United States is in an “arms race with China on clean energy.”
China has approved two coal-fired power plants per week in 2022. According to To the Energy and Clean Air Research Center. In 2024, the country limited approvals for new plants to 12 in the first half of this year, a significant decrease from the second half of 2023. According to to the organization.
“By ending the Democratic anti-energy crusade, President Trump will quickly defeat inflation and lower prices for everyone, cutting energy prices in half during his first 12 months in office.” Caroline Leavitt, President Trump and Vance's transition spokeswoman, told DCNF. He said this in a written statement in November. “He would also end the Green New Scam, cancel all unspent funds from the so-called “Cut Inflation Act,'' and redirect them to real infrastructure spending.''
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