2025-06-28 23:34
WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - The latest version of the Senate's massive budget bill that the Senate is racing through for a vote as soon as Saturday deals a fatal blow to the use of tax credits in place since 2005 to spur more wind and solar energy and would set a new tax on those projects for the first time, renewable energy proponents said on Saturday. Despite hopes earlier in the week that the Senate would rework the budget megabill's language about the future use of Inflation Reduction Act tax credits to extend their use and make them more usable, the new version of the bill introduced by Senate leadership overnight will effectively repeal the incentives for solar and wind immediately. Sign up here. Instead, it imposes a new tax on wind and solar projects completed after Dec. 31, 2027 if they cannot prove they have not used any Chinese components, while offering a new tax break for coal production. It also accelerates the phase-out of clean energy manufacturing tax credits that have attracted billions in investments throughout the US, especially in Republican states. The clean energy industry and environmental groups decried the last-minute changes to the bill, saying that it will raise household energy costs and deprive the US of new, necessary and fast electricity capacity at a time of massive power demand amid a rush of construction of power-hungry data centers to power AI development. Trump's former advisor and head of DOGE Elon Musk blasted the bill on his social media platform X on Saturday, warning that the bill will "destroy millions of jobs in America" and cause "strategic harm." "It is utterly insane and destructive. It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future," he said. Energy security organization SAFE said in a statement that the bill, as written, would give an advantage to China, which dominates the clean energy and electric vehicle industries and is racing to outpace the US in AI development by taking away financing for energy storage, mineral processing and power projects. "Where the original Senate version was a recipe for energy stagnation, this is outright energy surrender—all but guaranteeing Chinese dominance of critical minerals, industrial supply chains, and AI development," said Avery Ash, head of government affairs for SAFE. Green energy opponents praised the bill for ending support for renewable energy. Trump on Friday evening called for the end of the credits and said they no longer need support. “If, as supporters of the IRA are complaining, repealing these subsidies will ‘kill’ their industry, then maybe it shouldn’t exist in the first place," said Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/senate-bill-hastens-end-wind-solar-tax-credits-imposes-new-tax-2025-06-28/
2025-06-28 20:33
June 28 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday criticized the latest version of President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill released by the U.S. Senate, calling it "utterly insane and destructive," weeks after the world's richest person and its most powerful ended a feud sparked by Musk's opposition to the bill. "The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!" Musk wrote in a post on X. Sign up here. "It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future." (This story has been refiled to fix the spelling of Musk in paragraph 1) https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/elon-musk-says-senate-bill-would-destroy-jobs-harm-us-2025-06-28/
2025-06-28 14:34
EU to propose 2040 climate target Draft includes limited share of carbon credits Some countries opposed to steep emissions-cutting goal BRUSSELS, June 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission is set to propose counting carbon credits bought from other countries towards the European Union's 2040 climate target, a Commission document seen by Reuters showed. The Commission is due to propose a legally binding EU climate target for 2040 on July 2. Sign up here. The EU executive had initially planned a 90% net emissions cut, against 1990 levels, but in recent months has sought to make this goal more flexible, in response to pushback from governments including Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic, concerned about the cost. An internal Commission summary of the upcoming proposal, seen by Reuters, said the EU would be able to use "high-quality international credits" from a U.N.-backed carbon credits market to meet 3% of the emissions cuts towards the 2040 goal. The document said the credits would be phased in from 2036, and that additional EU legislation would later set out the origin and quality criteria that the credits must meet, and details of how they would be purchased. The move would in effect ease the emissions cuts - and the investments required - from European industries needed to hit the 90% emissions-cutting target. For the share of the target met by credits, the EU would buy "credits" from projects that reduce CO2 emissions abroad - for example, forest restoration in Brazil - rather than reducing emissions in Europe. Proponents say these credits are a crucial way to raise funds for CO2-cutting projects in developing nations. But recent scandals have shown some credit-generating projects did not deliver the climate benefits they claimed. The document said the Commission will add other flexibilities to the 90% target, as Brussels attempts to contain resistance from governments struggling to fund the green transition alongside priorities including defence, and industries who say ambitious environmental regulations hurt their competitiveness. These include integrating credits from projects that remove CO2 from the atmosphere into the EU’s carbon market so that European industries can buy these credits to offset some of their own emissions, the document said. The draft would also give countries more flexibility on which sectors in their economy do the heavy lifting to meet the 2040 goal, "to support the achievement of targets in a cost-effective way". A Commission spokesperson declined to comment on the upcoming proposal, which could still change before it is published next week. EU countries and the European Parliament must negotiate the final target and could amend what the Commission proposes. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/eu-plans-add-carbon-credits-new-climate-goal-document-shows-2025-06-28/
2025-06-28 10:41
SHANGHAI, June 28 (Reuters) - Heavy rain struck China's southwestern Guizhou province again on Saturday, half-submerging the already flood-stricken riverside city of Rongjiang for a second time this week and prompting the evacuation of residents to higher ground. Located at the confluence of three rivers and home to 300,000 residents, Rongjiang was inundated earlier this week by record downpours that left six dead and forced more than 80,000 people to flee their homes. The amount of rain that fell over 72 hours was double the city's average for June. Sign up here. In response to the new round of flooding, authorities raised the city's flood emergency response level to the highest level on Saturday. The benchmark hydrological station on one of the rivers estimated that the peak water level would hit 253.50 metres (832 ft) at around 5 p.m. (0900 GMT), exceeding the safety threshold by 2 metres, state broadcaster CCTV said. More than 40,000 residents in Rongjiang had been urgently evacuated as of 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Saturday, according to the state broadcaster. Earlier this week, the peak water level reached 256.7 metres, the highest since 1954, the Guizhou provincial government said in a statement to Reuters on Friday, blaming "the extreme climate" for the flooding. The floods in southwest China are set to hit local economies. Rongjiang was removed from the national poverty list in 2020. It then saw an unexpected tourism boom after a local soccer league nicknamed "Village Super League" became a social media sensation, attracting thousands of fans and tourists. On Tuesday, the soccer pitch was up to seven metres under water. China has battled with summer floods for millennia, but some scientists say climate change is resulting in heavier and more frequent rain. Massive flooding could set off unforeseen "black swan" events with dire consequences, such as dam collapses, Chinese officials say. In southern China over the past two days, 13 major rivers in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Hainan were hit by storms and had risen above their warning levels, CCTV reported, citing the Ministry of Water Resources on Saturday. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/heavy-rain-hits-chinas-flood-stricken-guizhou-second-time-week-2025-06-28/
2025-06-28 04:56
WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republicans late Friday released a revised tax and budget bill that would end the $7,500 tax credit on new electric vehicle sales and leases on September 30 as well as the $4,000 tax credit for used EVs. The prior version would have ended the credit for new sales 180 days after the bill was signed into law, 90 days for used vehicles and immediately ended the credit for leased vehicles not assembled in North America and meeting other requirements. Sign up here. Republicans have taken aim at EVs on a number of fronts, a reversal from former President Joe Biden's policy that encouraged electric vehicles and renewable energy to fight climate change and reduce emissions. The House of Representatives version would allow the $7,500 new-EV tax credit to continue through the end of 2025, and through the end of 2026 for automakers that have not yet sold 200,000 EVs before killing it. The Senate bill also includes a provision to eliminate fines for failing to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules in a move aimed at making it easier for automakers to build gas-powered vehicles. The Republican bill exempts interest paid on auto loans from taxes for new cars made in the U.S. through 2028, but phases it out for individual taxpayers making more than $100,000 annually. Senate Republicans dropped a bid to force the U.S. Postal Service to scrap thousands of electric vehicles and charging equipment in the bill following a ruling from the Senate parliamentarian. The U.S. Postal Service has 7,200 electric vehicles, made up of Ford e-Transit (F.N) , opens new tab and specially built Next Generation Delivery Vehicles built by Oshkosh Defense (OSK.N) , opens new tab and warned scrapping its EVs would cost it $1.5 billion. President Donald Trump this month signed a resolution approved by Congress to bar California's landmark plan to end the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035, which has been adopted by 11 other states representing a third of the U.S. auto market. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/senate-republicans-seek-end-ev-tax-credit-by-september-30-2025-06-28/
2025-06-28 03:55
BEIJING, June 28 (Reuters) - China has expanded the economic safeguards for segments of its population affected by flood control schemes in times of extreme rainfall, including pledges of direct compensation from the central government and payments for livestock losses. In China, diverting flood-waters to areas next to rivers is a major step in managing downstream flooding. As extreme rainfall grows in frequency, China is increasingly utilising such areas, some of which have been unused until now and have been populated by farms, croplands and even residential buildings, stoking social tensions. Sign up here. According to revised rules on compensation related to flood diversions released late on Friday, the central government will now bear 70% of all compensation funds, with local governments responsible for the rest. Previously, the ratio was to be decided based on actual economic losses and the fiscal situation of local governments. Livestock and poultry that cannot be relocated in time before the arrival of diverted flood-waters will also be included in the compensation scheme for the first time. Previously, only the loss of working animals could be claimed for compensation. In the summer of 2023, almost 1 million people in Hebei, a province on the doorstep of Beijing, were relocated after record rain forced authorities to divert water from swollen rivers to some populated areas for storage, triggering anger over the homes and farms sacrificed to save the Chinese capital. China currently has 98 designated flood diversion areas spanning major river basins including the Yangtze River basin, home to a third of the country's population. During the 2023 Hebei floods, eight flood storage areas were used. Since the start of the East Asia monsoon in early June, precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze has been up to two times higher than usual, officials from the China Meterological Administration told reporters on Friday. In other parts of China, daily rainfall measured by 30 meteorological stations in provinces such as Hubei and Guizhou broke records for the month of June, they said. Guizhou was the focal point of China's flood alleviation efforts this week, with one of its cities hit by flooding on a scale that meteorologists said could only happen once in 50 years, and at a speed that shocked its 300,000 residents. That prompted Beijing to issue pledges on Thursday to move vulnerable populations and industries to low-flood areas and allocate more space for flood diversion. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/flood-hit-china-expands-social-security-net-extreme-rain-takes-toll-2025-06-28/
