Is Donald Trump's comeback bad news for green energy?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 796 Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2024
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Donald Trump's return to the White House has raised big questions about what he'll do to the US' growing green energy sector. On the campaign trail he promised to undo Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest piece of climate legislation in US history. The IRA gives incentives and tax breaks for green industries and has created hundreds of thousands of jobs, many of those in Republican voting states.
President-elect Trump also pledged to end offshore wind "on day one" and reverse emissions rules aimed at increasing the number of electric cars on America's roads.
Will he keep those promises? And what of the influence of Elon Musk, the world's richest man, now in Donald Trump's inner circle? Is he worrying about what a Trump presidency might mean for his car company Tesla and will he be lobbying behind the scenes on behalf of electric vehicles?
We hear what people in those sectors think will happen under Trump 2.0. Can the renewables industry survive or even grow over the next four years?
Produced and presented by Lexy O'Connor
(Image: President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk talk during a UFC event in New York. Credit Chris Unger / Getty Images)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to Business Daily on the BBC World Service. |
| 0:05.8 | The green news scam. Nobody even knows what the hell's going on. The green news scam. |
| 0:11.2 | I'm Lexi O'Connor, and today we're looking at what Donald Trump's election win will mean for America's green energy companies. |
| 0:18.7 | We will frack, frack, frack, and drill, baby drill. We're going to drill, |
| 0:24.2 | baby, drill. President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act was the most far-reaching climate legislation |
| 0:30.8 | in U.S. history. It offered loans, tax credits, and incentives to stimulate green companies. |
| 0:38.6 | But during his election campaign, Donald Trump had all of that in his sights. |
| 0:43.9 | So they want wind or they want solar, they want all things. |
| 0:46.9 | It's not big enough to fire up your plants. |
| 0:49.1 | It's not good. It's not consistent. |
| 0:50.9 | So what does all of that mean for America's wind, solar and battery companies |
| 0:55.3 | and the people they employ? And what about the influence of his most famous backer? |
| 1:02.2 | You guys are awesome. Tesla's Elon Musk. So Elon Musk is the wild card and in many ways I think |
| 1:10.2 | the key to understanding what will happen here. |
| 1:13.4 | That's all to come on Business Daily. |
| 1:18.6 | Let's start 10,000 miles away from Washington in Baku, Azerbaijan. |
| 1:24.2 | There are people from all different countries and all different kinds of attire walking and talking. |
| 1:32.1 | Shortly after Donald Trump's election victory, I linked up with Abigail Ross Hopper. |
| 1:37.1 | She's CEO of the US Solar Energy's Industries Association. |
| 1:41.9 | And she was in Baku for the COP 29 climate conference. And in the halls |
| 1:46.8 | and meeting rooms, there was one big topic of conversation. Well, of course, people have been |
| 1:53.1 | talking about the incoming president of the United States and what that means. For Abigail, |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in -66 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.