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From Tesla to Big Oil: Here are Trump allies who benefit from Biden's climate law

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They hold billions of dollars in investments that qualify for the Inflation Reduction Act's tax credits, and stand to lose big if Trump guts it as promised.
BY Reuters6 minute read

Donald Trump has promised to gut President Joe Biden's climate subsidies if elected. But many of Trump's allies are benefiting from them thanks to big investments in solar power, electric vehicles, carbon sequestration, hydrogen, and other clean energy technologies.

Reuters found at least seven of Trump's close allies and fundraisers, or the firms they run, hold hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of stakes in companies that are significant beneficiaries of the tax breaks embedded in the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden's signature climate law. They include Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner; his former ambassador to China and continued ally Terry Branstad; and companies run by informal energy adviser and oil mogul Harold Hamm and powerful booster Howard Lutnick. Big oil companies like Occidental Petroleum and Energy Transfer, whose CEOs hosted a May fundraiser in Houston for Trump's campaign with Hamm, also hold major investments in projects that may only be viable if Biden's clean energy tax credits survive.

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And Tesla, whose founder and CEO Elon Musk has been boosting Trump's campaign, is also benefiting massively from the IRA's EV and solar credits. Together, these people and companies hold billions of dollars in investments that qualify for the IRA's lucrative tax credits and stand to lose big if Trump is able to follow through on his promise to gut Biden's climate law, according to Reuters reporting. The investments are important because they raise the likelihood some of Trump's allies may ask him to preserve aspects of Biden's climate law if he wins the November election against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. That would add influential voices to some of the trade groups and lawmakers that have already stood up in favor of specific IRA subsidies.

None of the people or companies identified by…
Reuters
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