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ICYMI: Country’s Largest Clean Energy Investment Benefitting Rep. Barrett’s District Under Threat

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Climate in Congress State Climate Action IRA Implementation
Press Contact: Emily Halvorson

Barrett and other Republicans silent as Trump targets clean energy tax credits benefiting their districts


In a new article, The Guardian contacted 18 Republican members of Congress representing districts benefiting the most from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to ask if they support Donald Trump’s calls to scrap clean energy incentives—and none would comment. Among those who declined to comment is Rep. Tom Barrett, who represents Michigan’s 7th Congressional District. According to EPA data shared with The Guardian, the top grant awarded under the IRA, worth $500 million, went to a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan, located in Barrett’s district. GM and 40 other Michigan-based companies wrote last week to the state’s congressional delegation urging them to protect the IRA’s clean energy investments, warning that their “businesses will face significant challenges” without them.

Despite clear benefits in Republican communities from clean energy investments, Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are charging forward with a reconciliation bill that could increase household energy costs by an additional $32 billion over the next decade. The Trump administration has made clear its intent to fully dismantle clean energy investments, while its congressional allies have dismissed the IRA’s incentives as “low-hanging fruit” for cuts.


ICYMI: The Guardian: “Clean energy spending boosts GOP districts. But lawmakers are keeping quiet as Trump targets incentives”

By: Oliver Milman, Dharna Noor, and Aliya Uteuova
March 31, 2025

  • Eighteen of the 20 Congressional districts who have received the most funding from the IRA are represented by Republicans and Republican districts account for 78 percent of the total IRA spending to date. In the top three districts alone, local economies and communities have received $30 billion in IRA grants, tax credits, and other investments.

  • The IRA’s top grant worth $500 million was awarded to a General Motors plant in Lansing, Michigan, represented by Republican Rep. Tom Barrett.

  • Analyses by Atlas and Climate Power have found the Trump administration has already cancelled about $8 billion in clean energy manufacturing this year and have threatened or cut 50,000 jobs. “A full repeal of the IRA would hike energy bills for households and imperil a further 1.5m jobs in the US, according to yet another recent report, by Energy Innovation.”

  • Before Trump took office, Republicans were less reluctant to speak to the benefits of the IRA in their communities—including some of the most conservative lawmakers, like Marjorie Taylor Green, praising clean energy projects and jobs made possible by the investments. Center-right group Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions attributes the shift to lawmakers trying to avoid publicly disagreeing with the White House.

  • While the majority of Republicans are staying silent, some are breaking rank and quietly raising alarm bells, including 21 Republican lawmakers who sent a letter earlier this month to the House Ways and Means Committee warning of the potential impacts of axing the investments.