Published: March 20, 2024 |

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President Joe Biden’s FY 2025 budget request of $7.3 trillion is exactly what Americans should have expected: increased spending and taxes.

A budget is more than just numbers, though. It’s a reflection of policy priorities and the ideological perspective of an administration. And in this case, Biden’s budget reflects a belief in federal top-down policies and a willingness to use the government to reshape how Americans live their lives.

When it comes to energy and environment, the budget includes the same type of harmful polices that we have come to expect. The administration boasts that it is building on the Inflation Reduction Act, a law whose “green” subsidies will likely cost over a $1 trillion, drive up energy prices, and threaten the electricity grid.

The administration would almost double the budget of the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, the office that will soon finalize some of the most egregious regulations in American history. This includes the agency’s vehicle tailpipe rule that is an effort to limit the ability of Americans from buying buy gas-powered vehicles. It also includes the new power plant rule that would shift electricity production away from reliable sources of electricity to unreliable sources.

The requested massive influx of funds for the air office shows the administration would like to literally double down on this office’s efforts.

The budget would expand the administration’s American Climate Corps, which the administration says will “mobilize a new, diverse generation of more than 20,000 clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience workers.” This certainly appears to be an advocacy and indoctrination campaign that aligns with the administration’s radical climate agenda.

The administration’s budget would also seek to end tax subsidies for fossil fuel companies while continuing its reckless spending into favored energy sources, such as wind and solar. Instead of meddling in how energy is produced, there should be no subsidies across the board.

Overall, the energy and environment budget is more of the same. The Biden administration wants to use the whole-of-government to shift away from fossil fuels that this country relies upon to meet 80 percent of its energy needs. These fuels are critical to almost every aspect of our daily lives. This attack on reliable energy will mean driving up prices and lowering our standard of living, including the ability for many Americans to meet even basic needs.

A budget request is often considered a wish list. When it comes to Biden’s FY 2025 budget, Congress should ensure that his wishes don’t come true.

Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute

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