John Podesta: Inflation Reduction Act Led to Action Abroad Despite Complaints from Allies

White House senior adviser on clean energy John Podesta said Wednesday it was worth irking European allies over President Biden’s tax-and-climate spending law because it motivated other nations to more aggressively lean into the green energy transition.

The Inflation Reduction Act and its $370 billion in clean energy tax credits infuriated some of America’s closest economic partners over its incentives for domestic manufacturing for things like electric vehicles and other climate-friendly energy technologies.

“Like, yeah, there’s a certain amount of complaining,” Mr. Podesta said during a Brookings Institution event on the law’s implementation, which he helps oversee. “But I think in reality, what it’s done is spurred action.”

He cited the European Union’s Green Deal Industrial Plan unveiled earlier this year that’s designed to counter U.S. subsidies and promote clean energy in Europe, arguing that it “wouldn’t happen without the Inflation Reduction Act passing.”

“With the complaining comes a little bit more effort,” Mr. Podesta said. “That’s a good thing.”