Climate advocates hit GOP with attack ads over votes to repeal renewable tax credits

by Rachel Frazin - 04/27/23 5:57 PM ET

FILE – Wind turbines stand in fields near Palm Springs, Calif, March 22, 2023. Electricity generated from renewables surpassed coal in the United States for the first time in 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced Monday, March 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

The League of Conservation Voters and Climate Power said Thursday it would run attack ads against five Republicans who voted to repeal tax credits for renewable energy as part of the GOP debt limit bill.

All but four Republicans voted to pass the bill, which would repeal tax credits for renewable energy that were part of the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act bill last year.

The lawmakers targeted by the ads are Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) and Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.).

A press release from the group says each ad will highlight “specific job-creating clean energy projects in the representatives’ districts that could be at risk if the MAGA House Republican agenda became law.”

League of Conservation Voters spokesperson David Willett told The Hill the overall buy is around $1 million but said he didn’t have specific figures for each one. They are both TV and digital.

Ahead of the vote, Mace expressed concerns about getting rid of the tax credits and said the bill did not go far enough to reduce spending, but she later said she felt “heard” by Speaker Kevin McCarthy after he agreed to work with her to further reduce the deficit.

The Hill has reached out to the lawmakers’ offices for comments.

In a statement on the bill, Williams said he supported it because it “reduces our federal deficit by $4.8 trillion, ensures we protect seniors and veterans, and puts an end to wasteful government spending.”

In his statement, Amodei said he believes “raising the debt ceiling must be done in conjunction with measures to cut political agenda spending.” He also pointed to provisions that would “repeal some ‘Green New Deal’ tax credits.”

Ciscomani said in his statement on the vote that “while the bill may not be perfect, it’s a solid foundation for a starting point and I supported it.”

The Republican proposal is not expected to become law because it would have to pass through the Democrat-led Senate and get President Biden’s approval.