As originally published in The Daily Caller on April 5th 2025
As Congress prepares to extend Trump’s historic 2017 tax cuts, one question is how Republicans should approach energy tax credits. While our lawmakers must repeal Biden’s Green New Scam, the best way to create an America First energy plan is to retain energy tax credits for domestic manufacturing while ending Biden’s tax cuts for China.
New polling from the Rainey Center illustrates that voters support keeping domestic energy tax credits or limiting them to only US companies rather than eliminating them. Voters, including Republicans, oppose fully repealing domestic manufacturing credits. This unity underscores the shared commitment to policies prioritizing American manufacturing and economic security.
President Trump has rightfully noted how other countries have taken advantage of America under past Presidents. Nowhere is this clearer than in clean energy, where China has dumped solar panels made with slave labor onto the American market in the hopes of destroying American manufacturing. In his first term, Trump fought back, tariffing Chinese solar to protect American manufacturing.
While incentives for domestic manufacturing are vital, the core of Biden’s “Green New Scam” was to tie necessary domestic manufacturing credits to a massive giveaway to anti-Israel radicals and allow Chinese companies to benefit from American taxpayer money. The solution is simple: end the giveaways and keep the domestic incentives–companies that build American factories should.
Consider the success story of First Solar, which has led the American domestic solar manufacturing boom catalyzed by these vital tax credits. With a $4 billion investment in American manufacturing in Ohio, Alabama, and Louisiana, they have created 30,000 American jobs. Let’s not undo this progress by ripping away these incentives away– which would only ensure that the solar industry is again dominated by Chinese companies exploiting slave labor.
Imagine the potential of an American manufacturing renaissance. By focusing tax credits on American companies, we can save taxpayer money while ensuring a bright future for our manufacturing sector. Our polling shows that the path forward with clean energy tax credits is by improving, not eliminating them. Let’s seize this opportunity and build a stronger, more resilient America.
A majority (59%) of voters, including a significant 60% of Republicans, support keeping domestic manufacturing tax credits for American companies. This bipartisan support underscores our shared commitment to American manufacturing and support security, and it’s a testament to the strength of our common goal.
Tax credits for domestic clean energy technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries garnered substantial support, with 61% of voters favoring either unchanged incentives or restrictions for U.S. firms only.
However, electric vehicle subsidies face pronounced opposition, particularly from Republicans, with only 17% supporting continuation even if limited to vehicles produced by US companies.
Domestic manufacturing is a conservative goal. Fifty-three percent of Republican voters would consider Trump’s promise to end Biden’s “Green New Scam” to be kept if tax credits were limited to US companies.
Biden’s Green New Scam sent taxpayer money to left-wing NGOs. In contrast, Trump’s ‘Made in America’ energy agenda will bolster American energy manufacturing, creating jobs and strengthening our national security.
Full polling memo
Navigating Voter Preferences Amid Tax Policy Tradeoffs on Clean Energy
Introduction
With Congress preparing to extend the 2017 tax cuts via reconciliation, Rainey Center surveyed Americans to gauge their views on clean energy tax credits and related government funding choices. The results show a clear preference among voters for retaining clean energy incentives. To further understand attitudes we explored voter support for keeping the credits while reducing their cost by limiting them to U.S. companies. We found that this option is far more appealing to voters, including Republicans, than full repeal.
Republican voters support retaining domestic manufacturing incentives while preventing adversaries from taking advantage of them. Consistent with past polling, we find that even limiting the electric vehicle (EV) tax credits to domestically-owned and produced cars does not save it from the ire of Republican voters.
Republican voters support Congress curtailing access to clean energy manufacturing tax credits while eliminating EV tax credits. If foreign access to these credits was ended, Republican voters would consider Trump to have fulfilled his pledge to end the “Green New Scam.” Fulfilling this pledge does not require full repeal of the tax credits for domestic companies.
Methodology
The online survey included 1,400 respondents, and was conducted from March 13-14, 2025. Responses were weighted to reflect education, age, gender, race, and 2024 election results. The margin of error is +/- 3.0%.
Topline Findings
Voters prefer keeping clean energy tax credits but strongly favor restricting these benefits exclusively to American companies.
There’s pronounced skepticism about extending these credits to foreign manufacturers or retaining electric vehicle subsidies, reflecting partisan divides and broader fiscal conservatism.
Overall Preference
Just under a quarter of voters (24%) support keeping credits unchanged, while 21% would limit them to U.S. companies. Eliminating credits is the least favored option (16%), while uncertainty remains high (39%).
Domestic Manufacturing Priority
Tax credits for companies that manufacture clean energy technologies domestically enjoy robust support (35% keep unchanged, 26% limit to U.S. companies).
Electric Vehicle Subsidy Skepticism
Voters disagree on electric vehicle subsidies, with 30% favoring continuation–44% of Democrats and only 17% of Republicans. Republican opposition is notably high (35% favor elimination).
Hydrogen and Nuclear Energy
Hydrogen (34% unchanged, 27% limit to domestic companies) and nuclear energy (32% unchanged, 26% limit to domestic companies) tax credits show solid, bipartisan support for either continuation or limitation to U.S. companies.
Clean Energy Tax Credits: Top Preferences
Tax credits supporting clean electricity production (solar, wind, nuclear, battery storage) emerge as most crucial to voters (33%), especially among Democrats (41%), while 35% of Republicans oppose prioritizing any of the tax credits offered (28% of overall voters).
Tax credits for companies that manufacture solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, and other clean energy technology in the United States come in a close second of those eligible at 27% of voters listing it as one of their two top priorities.
Domestic vs. Foreign Companies
A strong majority of voters (59%) support tax credits for American companies that manufacture clean energy technologies, compared to 16% opposing. 60% of Republicans support domestic clean technology tax credits, compared to 58% of Independents and 60% of Democrats.
Support for extending these credits to foreign companies manufacturing in the U.S. is lower (35%), highlighting a clear preference for domestically owned industry.
Impact of Domestic-only Credits
Voters report increased likelihood to support clean energy incentives if limited to U.S. companies (41% combined more likely), with cross-cutting support Republicans at 42% combined and Independents at 41%.
“Green New Scam” Dynamics
If President Trump were to eliminate “Green New Scam” policies, specifically maintaining tax credits exclusively for U.S. firms while ending politically aligned nonprofit funding, Republicans believe this would be keeping his campaign promise at 53% kept, 22% broken, 25% unsure, with Independents at net 13% kept.
Democrats remain skeptical at 22% kept, 31% broken, 47% unsure, highlighting sharp partisan divides in both preferences and voter perceptions.
Conclusion
As Republicans in Congress consider the fate of clean energy manufacturing credits, voters reject the binary that these should either be ended or kept that is often portrayed.
Instead, voters support limiting manufacturing and production credits to U.S. companies, while eliminating the EV tax credit. This would be sufficient for Republican voters to consider Trump’s promise to end Biden’s “Green New Scam” kept.
Voters support an “America First” approach to energy dominance. This includes clean energy tax credits which are essential for a reliable, affordable grid.
About the Rainey Center Polling Team
Connor Sandagata is a technologist, pollster, and data scientist specializing in public opinion research. With a background in applied machine learning in a campaign context, having informed strategy and built targeting for dozens of campaigns ranging from Congressional to Presidential, he advises the Rainey Center’s polling methodology to keep in line with industry best practices. He brings 3 years of experience as a right-of-center pollster to the team.
