President Joe Biden had just a single term to try to transform the nation’s approach to energy, climate change, technology and jobs. What does he leave behind?
Illustration by Claudine Hellmuth/POLITICO (source images via AP, Getty and Benjamin Storrow/POLITICO’s E&E News)
By JESSIE BLAESER, BENJAMIN STORROW and KELSEY TAMBORRINO
12/23/2024 03:00 PM EST
Joe Biden spent the first half of his presidency enacting plans to steer at least $1.6 trillion to transform the economy and spur a clean-energy revolution — only to watch those programs become afterthoughts in the 2024 election.
Now the core of his domestic legacy stands unfinished, with hundreds of billions of dollars left to deploy, and imperiled as Donald Trump prepares to take office.
A wide-ranging examination of the Biden administration’s spending and tax policies reveals signs that his efforts could leave a lasting mark, but also ways in which his agenda has yet to take hold — after unleashing money for batteries, solar cells, computer chips and clean water; luring foreign-owned factories to U.S. soil; and turning some red-state Republicans into supporters of green energy projects.
Throughout 2024, POLITICO’s “Biden’s Billions” series has documented the halting pace, uneven progress and genuine economic impact of a spending blueprint rivaling Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. With just weeks left in Biden’s term, it’s not at all certain his legacy will endure in the same way.
Much of it remains a work in progress.
Solar installations have surged to record levels, but the country is not adding enough zero-carbon electricity to meet Biden’s climate targets.
A $42 billion expansion of broadband internet service has yet to connect a single household.
Bureaucratic haggling, equipment shortages and logistical challenges mean a $7.5 billion effort to install electric vehicle chargers from coast to coast has so far yielded just 47 stations in 15 states.
Republicans say they intend to scrutinize much of Biden’s spending with an eye toward clawing it back, including dollars going out the door in Biden’s remaining weeks such as financing to the EV maker Rivian. Tax credits for electric vehicles could be eliminated.
In all, Congress provided $1.1 trillion for Biden’s big climate, clean energy and infrastructure programs. More than half of that spending — at least $561 billion — has yet to be obligated or is not yet available for agencies to spend, according to a POLITICO analysis of federal data.
Lawmakers also approved tax breaks worth an estimated $551 billion for clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing. The money unleashed a tsunami of private-sector investments, including nearly $160 billion in announced clean energy manufacturing projects, which are expected to create roughly 167,000 jobs building everything from solar panels in Ohio to electric vehicles in Georgia, according to data collected by research firm Atlas Public Policy.
A further $446 billion has been announced in semiconductor and electronics manufacturing since Biden took office, according to the White House.
IRA, BIL and CHIPS announcements have gone to nearly every county in the U.S.
Funding announced under the bipartisan infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, by county$100M$500M$1B$5B
Note: Map contains 38 percent of announced funding, including only awards where a county could be determined. Only Commerce Department CHIPS awards shown; awards going to multiple locations are split evenly if funding by site is not available. Awards announced jointly under BIL and IRA are assigned to BIL.
Source: White House, Commerce DepartmentJessie Blaeser/POLITICO
Yet some of those projects are still on the drawing board. Whether they get built could depend in part on whether Trump and his congressional allies rewrite the tax credits, revise the grant programs or cancel them altogether — especially as the president-elect pushes his own plans for trillions of dollars in tax cuts.
Biden’s administration has announced roughly $727 billion in tentative awards, as of Nov. 20. Those dollars could translate into projects such as $141.2 million for new headquarters for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in District Of Columbia, which has received a total of $3.8 billion in award announcements from the federal government as of Nov. 20, not including loans. That ranks 45th among all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
“I think that we’ll look back years from now, and we’ll say that this is when America had the chance to get in the game and lead in one of the biggest and most important economic revolutions in history,” said Bob Keefe, executive director of the national clean energy business group E2, which tracks project announcements.
“The question to be answered in the months ahead is, will we do so or will we continue to fall behind and ultimately lose out to other countries?”
