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illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on the Financial Times or enjoy below
🗞️ Driving the news: Siemens' US head, Barbara Humpton, urges companies to advocate for the Biden administration's industrial policy, emphasizing the non-partisan importance of measures like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
• The IRA, with a $369bn package for clean energy, faces potential repeal by Republican candidates in the upcoming US elections
🔭 The context: Siemens, the US government's largest global customer, has benefited from the IRA, leading to concerns about potential repeal and its impact on clean energy projects
• The IRA's tax credits have stimulated clean energy projects, with a significant portion located in Republican-led areas
🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Political debates around the IRA pose challenges for energy executives and could affect the profitability of clean energy projects, potentially stalling the country's emissions reductions
• The IRA includes subsidies for carbon capture and clean hydrogen, crucial components of US oil majors' decarbonization strategies
⏭️ What’s next: Growing political attacks on the IRA are causing concern among energy executives, who emphasize the need for consistency and stability in policies to support long-term investments in the clean energy sector
• The IRA's tax credits have stimulated clean energy projects, with a significant portion located in Republican-led areas
💬 One quote: “We’ve got to get stories out to help paint the pictures to voters...so that whoever is sitting in the White House or whoever’s legislating on Capitol Hill knows the importance of this to American workers, to American families, and frankly, to our national security” (Barbara Humpton, Siemens' USA CEO)
📈 One stat: Investments in clean energy are up 37% this year, surpassing $200bn, as per an analysis by Rhodium Group; however, more than half of Americans are unaware of the IRA’s clean energy tax credits, according to a July poll by the Washington Post and the University of Maryland
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