The landmark US climate, tax and spending law signed by president Joe Biden on Tuesday holds potential to spark an explosion of new renewable power projects across the country. Clean-energy executives, climate advocates and scholars have praised it, saying it is the first serious legislative attempt to tackle emissions that fuel global warming.
But a host of obstacles stand in the way. They range from tariffs and import controls that are driving up the cost of solar panels to state land-use laws over which the federal government has no control.
The so-called new law is “absolutely game changing”, said Jos Shaver, chief investment officer at Electron Capital Partners, a renewables-focused asset manager with $2.8bn under management. “[But] it’s an energy transition, not an energy switch. It’s not going to happen overnight and there’s going to be a lot of bumps in the road.”