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cover of episode Is the clean energy economy doomed?

Is the clean energy economy doomed?

2025/5/6
logo of podcast Make Me Smart

Make Me Smart

Shownotes Transcript

So far, President Trump’s “drill, baby, drill,” agenda has proven to be a sharp turn from Biden-era climate initiatives, including the landmark spending bill the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). 

And thanks to President Trump’s attempts to claw back control over IRA funds, as well as his recent budget proposal which drastically cuts climate spending, the future of America’s fast-growing clean energy economy looks uncertain. 

“The world is switching to electric vehicles, the world is switching to solar and wind,” said Christopher Knittel, economics professor and associate dean for climate and sustainability at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “And the less we do domestically, the less capability we build domestically to provide those clean energy resources, the worse off our industries will be in the future.”

Knittel explains President Trump’s efforts to phase out Biden-era climate initiatives, why some Republicans are reluctant to get rid of the IRA entirely, and why the U.S. getting left behind in a world committed to decarbonization poses a threat. 

Plus, the new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told President Trump that Canada is “not for sale” in a meeting earlier today. And, the REAL ID deadline is coming in hot, though not all states seem equally prepared. 

Then, we’ll hear about how Seattle businesses are showing love for Canadian visitors and a listener share’s her daughter’s frustrations with “shrinkflation.”

Here’s everything we talked about today:

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