NEW YORK: Even if Donald Trump returns to the White House in November, the Inflation Reduction Act's (IRA) climate-focused tax credit is unlikely to be eliminated, California's top environmental regulator said.
Liane Randolph, president of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), said Tuesday: "I think the chances of abolishing the IRA are very slim. ”
She spoke at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum summit in San Francisco.
Some of the basic federal support that we've done for climate action is going to continue, and I think that's very important. ”
The Climate Act (IRA) signed by Joe Biden in the United States provides tax incentives for the deployment of technologies such as solar farms, wind turbines and green hydrogen.
It also offers tax credits where individuals can take advantage of electric vehicles, heat pumps, and other technologies.
It is estimated that by 2032, the IRA will provide about 1$2 trillion in incentives.
Goldman Sachs research shows that this will create the most supportive regulatory environment in the history of clean technology.
It's already having an impact, with drivers switching to electric vehicles (EVs), in part because of the law's $7,500 tax credit for EVs and automakers moving manufacturing domestically in response to the law's increasingly stringent requirements for U.S. sourcing materials.
Trump criticized Biden's climate measures on the campaign trail.
His advisers said he would take action to reverse the policy if he won this year's election.
Republicans in Congress have also expressed a desire to repeal the bill.
The conservative-controlled House of Representatives has tried more than 30 times.
That's according to the advocacy group Climate Power.
Despite Republican opposition, the Red State is poised to get the most out of the IRA.
California has set some of the nation's most ambitious climate goals, including a plan to make the state's economy carbon neutral by 2045.
To achieve this, the state will effectively ban the sale of new fossil fuel vehicles by 2035, according to the regulations set by Randolph CARB.
California has been able to regulate car pollution under a federal exemption that Trump tried to revoke during his presidency.