June 03, 2025 02:45 PM UTC

Gabe Evans Punks Gabe Evans On Clean Energy Tax Credits

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• by: Colorado Pols

Back in April, veteran reporter Mark Jaffe at the Colorado Sun covered the defense that freshman GOP Reps. Gabe Evans and Jeff Hurd were at the time putting up for renewable energy tax credits against the prevalent trend among fellow Republicans under President Donald Trump against renewable energy programs in favor of drilling baby drilling:

The risk of losing those energy tax credits has galvanized businesses and some Republican legislators — including U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans from Fort Lupton and U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd of Grand Junction — who are warning that cuts pose energy and economic risks.

“Both our constituencies and the energy industry alike remain concerned about disruptive changes to our nation’s energy tax structure,” 21 legislators, including Evans and Hurd, said in a letter to Rep. Jason Smith, the Missouri Republican chairing the House Ways and Means Committee, which handles tax legislation.

Early last month, Rep. Evans even introduced a bill co-sponsored by a Democrat to boost tax credits for battery and renewable energy hardware production:

Rep. Evans…introduced the bipartisan Critical Minerals and Manufacturing Support Act, along with Rep. Raul Ruiz, M.D. (D-CA-25). The bill would bolster the Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, which incentivizes battery manufacturing and supports the production of critical minerals and components for energy sources like solar and wind power. “CO-08 is already home to several innovative battery manufacturers that are leading the way in onshoring supply chains. As a strong supporter of American-made products representing these manufacturers, I am proud to help introduce this legislation… We will encourage critical clean energy technologies, create good-paying jobs, and enhance U.S. energy security – all things that will help Coloradans,” Rep. Evans noted in a press release.

But as you’ve probably realized by now, after all this lip service from Rep. Gabe Evans about protecting renewable energy development, as the Denver Post’s Noelle Phillips reported over the weekend, something else happened when the proverbial rubber met the road:

While the Republican budget bill, which narrowly passed the House of Representatives on May 22, has received much attention for drastic cuts to Medicaid and SNAP benefits that would fund tax breaks, it also rolls back tax credits and low-interest loans for a wide variety of clean energy projects.

The bill’s budget cuts would repeal or quickly phase out whole categories of tax credits and loans for things such as home improvements for consumers, electric vehicles, wind and solar energy production, hydrogen energy, nuclear energy and carbon capture.

Executives who lead Colorado energy companies, both big and small, said eliminating tax credits will decimate the progress made in recent years in the United States as the country seeks as many sources of energy as possible to supply growing demand. It could also lead to higher electricity bills for consumers and eliminate jobs, sending more jobs to China and other Asian markets where production is cheaper and more advanced.

As for that Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit Evans allegedly wants to bolster?

The Section 45X credit and many other clean energy incentives are at risk in the House reconciliation bill. In its current state, a phase-out for wind components is scheduled for 2027, and a phase-out for the other technologies will follow after 2031. The onus is now on the Senate to defend tax credits that will do so much for Colorado and the nation. [Pols emphasis]

In short, the renewable energy tax credits that Rep. Gabe Evans pretended to care about before he voted for legislation to slash it now depend on the Senate refusing to accept the bill Evans voted for. We assume at the very least that Evans would support a revised bill that restored the cuts he initially voted for, but that in turn puts the whole so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” in danger after so many hard-line House Republicans held their noses to vote for the original version. At the same time, the tax credits Evans supports have a far better chance of staying alive as part of the reconciliation bill than as a bipartisan standalone bill–but their elimination wasn’t enough to push Evans into opposition. Evans let them go, and celebrated the “Big Beautiful Bill” anyway.

When the time came to vote, cutting Medicaid and food stamps mattered more to Gabe Evans than fighting for renewable energy.

That’s one hell of a pitch to Colorado’s most competitive congressional district.