A clean energy policy benefits everyone. Ask a red state like Florida

Conservatives across the US realize that clean energy holds a great economic promise and is already profiting. Look at the top three wind states of 2023: Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma. These “red states” saw the opportunity and took it.

They found themselves with a wealth of wind, and they exploited the general wind in the form of federal government policies aimed at encouraging tapping to this God-given resource. The US wind industry has provided nearly $300 billion in investment over the past 20 years ($10 billion for new projects in 2023) and has employed 131,000 Americans (an additional 300,000 adjacent jobs).

Solar has its own happy story. As of 2023, nearly 280,000 Americans have worked in the solar industry for over 10,000 companies in all states, generating more than $60 billion in private investment in the American economy. Again, the two Republican-led states, Texas and Florida, are one of the top three solar power countries in the United States.

It is this recognition that there are money to earn, jobs to be generated, and communities to thrive with thriving communities thanks to the clean energy projects and investments that led 18 GOP lawmakers in November 2024. In the letter, they asked him not to take the Sledgehammer to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the Biden-era omnibus climate bill.

The Inflation Reduction Act was passed partisanally, but in fact it included many policies that were defended as standalone bills by Republican lawmakers.

“The energy tax credits spurred innovation, encouraged investment and created good work in many parts of the country, including many districts represented by conference members,” they wrote. “We must reverse policies that harm American families while protecting and refine what makes our country more energy independent and Americans safer. As Republicans, we support all approaches to energy development and tax credits that encourage domestic production, innovation and delivery from all sources.”

These signatories of the letter get it: almost 60% of the inflation reduction law project (which accounts for 85% of the investment and 60% of the created employment) are in the Red District.

Iowa State Assemblyman Mariannette Miller Meeks is a chair in the home’s conservative climate caucus. Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter has a $5.5 billion Hyundai EV manufacturing plant in the district. And they get it, as where you sit decides where you stand. Like many other districts, their districts benefit from clean energy projects and investments that generate high-paying jobs, contribute to a tax base and often revitalize the community.

Clean energy policies and projects are economically suited, community-friendly and climate-friendly.

Bob Inglis is executive director of Republicen.org, advocating free enterprise solutions to climate change, and a former two-term US Congressman representing Greenville Spartanburg, South Carolina. The work was originally published by C-Change’s Conversation and distributed by the invading sea website (www.theinvadingsea.com). The site posts news and commentary on climate change and other environmental issues affecting Florida.