{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/opinion-tax-credits-with-a-scalpel-how-to-boost-american-energy-without-killing-innovation", "OPINION: TAX CREDITS WITH A SCALPEL\u2014HOW TO BOOST AMERICAN ENERGY WITHOUT KILLING INNOVATION", "2025-06-04", "2025", "2025-06", "Republican", "Senate", "UT", "John R. Curtis", "C001114", "www.curtis.senate.gov", "curtis", "https://www.curtis.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Tax credits with a scalpel\u2014how to boost American energy without killing innovation\n\nBy: Senator John Curtis (R-UT)\n\nDeseret News\n\nJune 4, 2025\n\nJust days after I was sworn into Congress in 2017, I found myself in the thick of negotiations over the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Republicans passed the bill within a month, and I returned to Utah eager to tell small-business owners and manufacturers about the historic tax relief they could expect.\n\nAs I shared the news, business leaders politely nodded, then said, \u201cThanks. But if you really want to help us grow, cut the red tape and the uncertainty that goes with it.\u201d\n\nSolving a problem is great. Solving the right problem is better. That lesson has stuck with me. As the U.S. Senate begins its swing at reconciliation, I am determined to apply this principle \u2014 solving the right problem in the right way. Leadership expert Margaret Wheatley cautioned, \u201cWe experience problem-solving sessions as war zones, we view competing ideas as enemies, and we use problems as weapons to blame and defeat opposition forces. No wonder we can\u2019t come up with real lasting solutions!\u201d\n\nSpecifically, the Senate must solve the right problem relating to American energy. The right policy solution must navigate tax credits and regulatory reform in what I believe is central to America\u2019s economic future, the planet and our national security: energy.\n\nI am convinced the next great opportunity for economic growth \u2014 and energy dominance \u2014 won\u2019t come solely from government programs. For example, we likely wouldn\u2019t have had the fracking revolution without federal research at the Department of Energy. That said, we can\u2019t rely only on government intervention. When government acts, it must be fiscally responsible and targeted. This problem requires the government to support the private sector in its leadership, not the other way around.\n\nSome conservatives understandably want to end the energy tax credits created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and frankly, I agree with them on many provisions that included frivolous spending. We weren\u2019t included in its drafting and didn\u2019t vote for it. But we must be wise \u2014 we simply cannot afford to treat good policy ideas as guilty by political association. That would be a quest for political power over intelligence and strategy.\n\nThe simple truth is this: many of these credits are Republican policies that we fought to protect. They support strategic energy assets and a robust domestic economy. That\u2019s why businesses from across the energy spectrum \u2014 oil and gas, nuclear, renewables \u2014 have already made billions in long-term investments based on these policies.\n\nWe must build a thoughtful, principled bill that doesn\u2019t pull the rug out from under American innovators. Doing otherwise risks freezing investment, delaying domestic production, increasing costs, and forfeiting our energy edge and national security to China and Russia.\n\nWe can \u2014 and must \u2014 evaluate each tax credit on its merits. Some deserve to be wound down. Others should stay, at least for now, if they advance American energy independence and national security. In reconciliation, we should fight for a thoughtful approach or, in the words of Speaker Johnson, \u201cuse a scalpel and not a sledgehammer.\u201d\n\nOver the years, I\u2019ve spoken with energy innovators across Utah and the nation. From the Uintah Basin to Beaver\u2019s geothermal fields, I\u2019ve seen cutting-edge facilities building the future of power. Their consistent ask isn\u2019t subsidies \u2014 it\u2019s predictability and deregulation.\n\nMany of them compete with foreign producers who pollute more and comply less. Russian natural gas is 40% dirtier than American-produced gas. When we saddle our own production with a regulatory millstone and unnecessary uncertainty, we don\u2019t help the climate. Nor are we being careful stewards of the environment. By default, we outsource emissions, undermine our economy and provide resources to our enemies.\n\nDeregulation doesn\u2019t mean eliminating guardrails. It means designing rules that are transparent, consistent and don\u2019t take five years and three lawsuits to get a permit.\n\nDuring the oil embargo of the 1970s, Americans learned a hard truth: we must never depend on adversaries for our energy. Gas lines and rationing are the result of bad policy or simply not solving the right problem. That lesson shaped a generation.\n\nDecades later, we watched as European leaders scrambled when Russia invaded Ukraine \u2014 only to discover that they were energy-dependent on their enemy. The U.S. must never be in that position. In fact, we should aim higher. We shouldn\u2019t just be energy independent \u2014 we should be energy dominant.\n\nPresident Trump understands this. His energy agenda is not about ideology \u2014 it\u2019s about prosperity, security and leverage. The Senate must now amend the House legislation that supports that agenda in both word and substance. To meet President Trump\u2019s goals, we must bring every energy source to the table as part of the solution. If we prematurely cut any one of them off \u2014 or do so without a reasonable, responsible offramp \u2014 we don\u2019t just risk falling short of our energy targets; we put our economy and national security in jeopardy.\n\nLet\u2019s be honest with the American people. Some credits in the IRA should end. Others support strategic advantages. And across the board, what will truly unleash energy production isn\u2019t a new spending or deduction line \u2014 it\u2019s liberating American ingenuity from the shackles of Washington bureaucracy and unnecessary regulation. Perhaps most important, Congress needs to get to work on substantive permitting reform and fix the bureaucracy that is preventing all forms of energy from being deployed.\n\nIt\u2019s time for Congress to act \u2014 not by reflexively tearing down or playing political power games, but by building smarter. Intelligently solving the right problems by delivering a structured offramp to tax credits and common-sense deregulation will unleash American energy \u2014 and produce economic prosperity, a healthier planet and true national security.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:34:38Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.curtis.senate.gov/press-releases/opinion-tax-credits-with-a-scalpel-how-to-boost-american-energy-without-killing-innovation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7867251299321651, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}