News from Novi: 10 Headlines that Stood Out to Us this Week

News from Novi: 10 Headlines that Stood Out to Us this Week

Issue 4 – Week of May 12th, 2025

Unsurprisingly, lots of focus this week on what Congress will do with the Budget Reconciliation process – or what the Budget Reconciliation process might do to clean energy and climate-related tax credits. Never say never, but these cats are looking increasingly harder to herd, which might improve the picture for the IRA tax credits and other measures, like the Infrastructure bill investments, that have been driving big strides in clean energy and technology development.

Also, why get rid of Energy Star? Even if you don’t care about climate, it saves people money, helps companies differentiate lower-cost-to-operate products from the rest of the pack (which we want to use to our trade advantage, no?), and makes a difference when it comes to meeting rising energy demand. Even the EPA thinks so (see what the EPA has to say about the benefits of energy efficiency as recently as March 20, 2025).

In any event, here’s the news that stood out to us this week:

Budget Reconciliation News

1-      Two Resources on What’s at Stake

a.       IRA Programs at Risk under the Budget Reconciliation Bill

The @Columbia Law School Climate Law Blog has provided an overview of the impacts that the proposed Budget Reconciliation Bill would have on IRA programs. It’s a great resource for anyone looking to gain a better understanding of the impacts of the proposed cuts.

NOVI TAKE: Not much to add when it comes to the information collected by Columbia – it speaks for itself – but read on to see what it will take to make those proposed cuts a reality. 

b.       May 12 update on tax legislation: Key takeaways from proposed legislation

Crux Climate (a sustainable finance technology company that assists with financing clean energy and decarbonization projects, starting with transferable tax credits with a database that includes $25 billion in transferable tax credits) released an overview of what to expect from the proposed legislation that came from the House Ways and Means Committee. This is another great resource for understanding the impacts of the House W&M proposal.

NOVI TAKE: Not only would taking transferability away hurt climate and clean energy and technology development, but it would also deprive the economy of a massive growth opportunity. [Who are the champions trying to save transferability? Worth mentioning them?] Crux is hosting a webinar to walk through the May 12th House Ways & Means proposal. Update: Key takeaways from proposed legislation

2-      Senate Republicans: House GOP’s energy tax credit cuts won’t work

In response to the markups released by the House Ways and Means Committee, Republicans have been expressing their concerns regarding the abrupt nature of the proposed cuts.

NOVI TAKE: Might the Senate once again be the “saucer that cools the milk?” The next article identifies the solutions proffered by some of those could align with the Senators.

3-      13 Republicans press leadership for more flexibility in green energy tax credit phaseout.

Republican members of the House have released a statement asking for three changes to the proposed budget reconciliation bill, asking for more flexibility on proposed supply chain requirements and the provision that will make it harder for projects to get funding, and that phaseout should be based on commencing construction.

NOVI TAKE: Coming down to the time of deal-making, these 13 express their views of the most important changes needed. But will it be a hard line for them?

4-      The Biggest Losers in the GOP Plan to Slash US Climate Spending

Not only will the proposed budget reconciliation package affect clean energy projects, but the average American citizen will also feel it in their pocket books. Estimates based on the latest package indicate energy prices will increase by an average of 7% across the U.S.  This article catalogues each industry that will be affected and the corresponding proposed cuts.

NOVI TAKE: Query whether the cuts, if not delivering on the promise to cut utility bills by 50% (to be fair, within 12 to 18 months), will at least make it possible for the U.S. to achieve energy dominance … see #5 …

5-      Trump promised U.S. dominance. Instead, energy companies are faltering

One of Trump’s big promises for Trump 2.0 (in addition to halving utility bills) was to lead the U.S. to energy dominance using oil and gas. But it seems that the Administration’s actions – e.g., tariff posturing and geopolitical tensions caused by tariff threats and other measures – are having a detrimental effect on U.S. oil and gas industries.

NOVI TAKE:  Maybe if the tariffs are temporary, this can be reversed. But energy demand is here and now!

6-      Prime Minister Carney Says Canada Can Emerge As Energy Superpower

The new Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, has made it clear that he is going to try to point Canada in the direction of capitalizing on the country’s abundance of natural resources, including through public-private partnerships about which Carney has considerable experience considering his roles in public and private finance.

NOVI TAKE: Canada to the rescue, at least for clean firm? (see also Bloomberg: Trump’s Spending Cuts Force Clean Techs to Explore US Exit)

7-      This program should make a DOGE bro swoon. It’s imperiled instead.

The Trump administration has aimed its guns at the Energy Star program seemingly to fight the “green new scam”.  This opinion piece from one of country’s great environmental statesmen points out its alignment with all that the Administration values.

NOVI TAKE: Bill Reilly’s straight talk should resonate as we try to get our arms around our nation’s growing energy demand. May it not be seen as partisan but rather as a consensus path forward.

8-      Farmers win legal fight to bring climate resources back to federal websites

After a suit was filed by farmers for the administration taking down the climate information on its webpages – the USDA has agreed to “restore the climate-change-related web content”.

NOVI TAKE: Farmers get it. They live in a world where John Adams’ famous quote still resonates: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

9-      Interior wants to do NEPA reviews in 28 days. Is that even possible?

The Interior Department is still planning to change the environmental review process from a year plus to under a month. Experts are expressing their concerns that this may mean that there is little environmental recognition of environmental factors and that it may result in further delays through litigation. NOVI TAKE: Is this a fix? To speed reviews, durable consensus NEPA reform – which would be possible in a world without as much partisan rancor – is the true solution.

10-  The clean energy boom that could snarl the GOP megabill

As the new proposed budget bill plans to cut down the 2022 climate law, many Republicans are hesitant to support all the cuts. There has been a significant economic boom for many states, including many red states, from clean energy projects that have been deployed because of the IRA.

NOVI TAKE: Seems like the data are getting through, other than that, fingers crossed.

And this one goes to 11…!!!

11-  Stepchange Show: Coal Parts I & II

Check out Stepchange’s podcast on the story of coal and how it shaped the way we live and the human progress – and peril – that came along with it. Well done Ben Eidelson and Anay Shah! Hope you’ll connect with us now on LinkedIn!