Taking stock: Bipartisan support for clean firm energy endures in an era of federal policy uncertainty

The document argues that while the second Trump administration has targeted wind, solar, and electric vehicles, bipartisan support for clean firm energy—including nuclear, geothermal, and carbon capture—remains durable through existing statutory foundations and congressional appropriations.

• Despite the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) rolling back significant parts of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), tax credits for carbon capture, geothermal energy, fusion energy, nuclear fission, and advanced manufacturing survived. CATF estimates that approximately $280 billion, or roughly 60% of the estimated value of clean energy tax credits, remains through 2034 after the OBBBA.
• Bipartisan congressional appropriators resisted the Trump administration's Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget request to slash energy and climate agencies. While the Department of Energy (DOE) saw a modest funding decline, the Nuclear Office received a year-over-year funding increase of $100 million, achieved by reprogramming over $5 billion in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funds.
• The Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget request proposes further cuts, omitting requests for the Grid Deployment Office, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Instead, it proposes funding new offices for Fusion, Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, and Artificial Intelligence and Quantum, while repurposing IIJA funds for "baseload power."
• The federal government's capacity to implement energy and climate policy has been weakened by the loss of more than 10,000 STEM PhDs since the start of the second Trump administration.
• Significant prior investments are difficult to reverse; between 2021 and 2025, the DOE obligated approximately $35 billion and outlaid nearly $12 billion for carbon management, fusion energy, advanced nuclear energy, and grid modernization.

APA

Mitchell, A. (2026). Taking stock: Bipartisan support for clean firm energy endures in an era of federal policy uncertainty. Clean Air Task Force. https://www.catf.us/2026/04/taking-stock-bipartisan-support-clean-firm-energy-endures-era-federal-policy-uncertainty/

Chicago

Mitchell, Alan. Taking stock: Bipartisan support for clean firm energy endures in an era of federal policy uncertainty. Clean Air Task Force, 2026. https://www.catf.us/2026/04/taking-stock-bipartisan-support-clean-firm-energy-endures-era-federal-policy-uncertainty/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mitchell |first1=Alan |title=Taking stock: Bipartisan support for clean firm energy endures in an era of federal policy uncertainty |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=16 April 2026 |url=https://www.catf.us/2026/04/taking-stock-bipartisan-support-clean-firm-energy-endures-era-federal-policy-uncertainty/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mitchell2026taking, author = {Mitchell, Alan}, title = {{Taking stock: Bipartisan support for clean firm energy endures in an era of federal policy uncertainty}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2026}, month = apr, url = {https://www.catf.us/2026/04/taking-stock-bipartisan-support-clean-firm-energy-endures-era-federal-policy-uncertainty/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }