Preserve the IRA’s Clean Energy Incentives and Reform Federal Permitting

Federal investments in infrastructure, clean energy, and energy efficiency are helping South Carolina build stronger, more sustainable communities and local economies. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), for example, has provided much-needed tax incentives for architects, builders, engineers, general contractors, and everyday South Carolinians to invest in energy-efficient technologies that reduce energy waste and costs for our homes and businesses.

In the two years since the IRA was signed into law, major companies, including Toyota, Siemens Energy, and Scout Motors, have announced more than two dozen new projects for the Palmetto State, which are expected to create nearly 14,000 jobs in clean manufacturing, infrastructure, and energy. Our state’s congressional delegation—particularly Senator Lindsey Graham—should help protect and maintain the IRA tax credits and incentives that are fueling these investments in South Carolina communities.

We also need Senator Graham’s leadership to help pass bipartisan permitting reform at the federal level. The delays created by the federal permitting process for new infrastructure and clean energy projects can add years onto project timelines while massively increasing costs, weakening the positive these projects could have on local communities and economies. Reforming the broken permitting process would help us cut through the red tape, expedite economy-growing projects, and ensure South Carolina can compete for the clean energy jobs and businesses of the future.

Senator Graham should help build on the progress South Carolina has made by preserving the IRA’s clean energy tax incentives and leading on bipartisan permitting reform in Congress.