Sen. Becker: “Since taking office in January, the Trump administration is increasingly doing everything it possibly can to drive up the cost of energy. What is going on?”
Today, Former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra, California State Senator Josh Becker, and Maryland House of Delegates Member Lorig Charkoudian participated in a press call hosted by Defend America Action to call out Donald Trump’s war on clean energy and the resulting cost increases hitting Americans’ wallets.
The speakers highlighted how Trump and MAGA Republicans’ Trump’s Big, Ugly Bill ended President Biden’s energy tax credits that fueled thousands of building projects and jobs across the country. This, combined with Trump’s tariff taxes, have set back America’s clean energy transition and jacked up prices by 10% on all Americans.
“It isn’t just a hot summer that’s leading to higher bills. We’re seeing all sorts of other factors driving up the costs that are actually going to drive more people into debt, including putting some into bankruptcy,” said Former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “And guess who’s going to be paying a lot of the costs? It isn’t those big tech companies. It may also fall disproportionately on families paying their electric bill, and I’m seeing that lots of federal agencies don’t really care. They’re not taking actions to bring down the costs of these bills.”
“The real question is, why is Trump doing everything he can to raise your energy bills? On the campaign trail, President Trump repeatedly promised to slash energy and electricity prices by half within 12 months,” said California State Senator Josh Becker. “We all know that actions speak louder than words, and since taking office in January, the Trump administration is increasingly doing everything it possibly can to drive up the cost of energy. What is going on? We know he’s cozied up to big oil, and all these policies are helping big oil at the expense of everyday consumers.”
“We find so many of our consumers are struggling to pay their electric bills, and the damage and devastating policy decisions, one right after another, from the federal government, from the MAGA regime, from Trump, and from the Republicans in Congress to ensure that they do everything they possibly can to drive up electric bills and to create a reliability crisis in this country,” said Maryland House of Delegates Member Lorig Charkoudian. “As the administration continues to drive our economy into the ground, continues to drive our energy future into the ground, continues to really harm working families across this country, in Maryland and California, and in several other states, we continue to do everything that we can to make sure we’re continuing on our clean energy future in a way that protects our ratepayers and protects the good union jobs that come with this clean energy future.”
BACKGROUND
Trump and MAGA Republicans rammed an unpopular, unaffordable tax break for the wealthiest people in the country through Congress, and they’re paying for it by raising costs, including by ending President Biden’s energy tax credits that fueled thousands of building projects and jobs across the country.
- COSTS GOING UP WHILE BILLIONAIRE TAXES GO DOWN: A new nonpartisan analysis confirms that Republicans’ plans will raise energy costs up to 18 percent for everyone, all to pay for a massive tax break for the ultra-wealthy.
- KILLING MILLIONS OF GREEN JOBS. By ripping away funding for green energy and infrastructure projects across the country, Trump and Republicans’ Big, Ugly Bill threatens to cut an estimated 1.75 million construction jobs and over 3 billion work hours, translating to $148 billion in lost annual wages and benefits for workers.
- TRUMP’S DISASTROUS TARIFFS ARE ALREADY HIKING ENERGY PRICES. Thanks to Trump’s disastrous tariff regime, electric bills are already up 10 percent so far this year, outpacing overall inflation by more than double.
- ENDING DESPERATELY NEEDED TRANSPORTATION UPGRADES. Trump and Republicans’ are stalling and shutting down desperately needed transportation projects after cutting more than $2.2 billion in infrastructure development funding.
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