Biden touts climate legacy

US president Joe Biden made the case for his climate legacy on Tuesday, casting the Inflation Reduction Act as part of a "new economic playbook" and warning of environmental and economic repercussions if former president Donald Trump returns to the White House.

The 2022 law, which included a raft of tax credits to subsidize clean energy technologies, was the "most significant climate law passed in the history of the world," Biden said in a speech at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum, an event on the sidelines of the UN general assembly and Climate Week NYC.

The market for clean energy is "booming" because of the law, Biden said, pointing to investments made after its passage in battery technology, nuclear energy, hydrogen, and what the administration terms "climate-smart agriculture." Most of those benefits are flowing to Republican-led states, he noted.

While analysts see some provisions in the law as less vulnerable than others, including tax credits for hydrogen and carbon capture popular among oil and gas companies, Republicans have said they want to repeal much of the law. Trump-era tax cuts are set to expire in 2025, teeing up a major legislative fight over tax policy next year regardless of which party controls the US Congress and the White House.

Although Biden argued that his climate policies have already had substantial impacts, he also said that Trump could halt much of that progress. Manufacturing facilities and businesses that have started up because of the law's incentives would "shut down" if it was repealed, he said.

The US shifting course on energy policy could also have spillover effects on other countries' climate ambitions, Biden said, pointing to his administration's support for language agreed to at last year's UN Cop 28 climate summit around transitioning away from fossil fuels. "If we didn't lead, who the hell leads? Who fills the vacuum without America leading?" he said.

By Cole Martin