"There is not a clean energy race. There is an energy race."
During the Thursday hearing, during Wyden's questioning, the lawmaker said that many in the incoming Trump administration are looking to undo the Inflation Reduction Act, and called it “the biggest transformation on clean energy in American history."
He then asked the Trump nominee, "Now there is a big effort in the Trump administration to reverse it. I think that's going to be bad for the economy, but it is going to be d*mn good for China, because we are in an arms race on clean energy with them. Are you going to be on the side of people who want to unravel this?"
"Senator Wyden, just so we can frame this for everyone in the room, China will build 100 new coal plants this year. There is not a clean energy race. There is an energy race," Bessent responded. "China will build 10 nuclear plants this year. That is not solar."
Bessent added that he is in favor of more nuclear energy but that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) “as scored by the CBO [Congressional Budget Office], is wildly out of control in terms of spending on the upside.”
During August 2022, the IRA - which President Joe Biden has said before has "less to do with reducing inflation than it has to do with providing alternatives that generate economic growth” - was passed, and along with it came billions in subsidies for green energy projects around the country.
Wyden appeared frustrated by the comments from Bessent and said he was “troubled” that Bessent did not agree that China, with its reported construction of 100 more coal plants, was intent on a clean energy arms race with the United States.
“I'm very troubled by your position, denying that we're in an arms race with China on clean energy, because we definitely are.”
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