WASHINGTON — A shift to clean energy could serve as a potential solution to the ongoing affordability crisis, a White House official shared in a conversation carried live by Axios on Wednesday.
“The president’s plan to create tax incentives that made it cheaper for them to move to clean energy would make it cheaper for consumers — would go a long way toward cutting costs for the American consumer,” said Heather Boushey, who serves as a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Boushey pointed out that clean energy would not only improve America’s economic situation in the present but also stabilize the economy in the future.
“We have to make sure we get that kind of clean energy independence because that’s gonna create real economic security for families in the decades to come,” Boushey said.
Amid steadily increasing gas prices, there are concerns about the impact of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine on the energy market. Boushey acknowledged these worries and emphasized what this developing war reveals.
“This crisis in Ukraine has really underscored the way that our dependence on fossil fuels makes our whole economy subject to the whims of another country,” she said. “So long as we are dependent on fossil fuels, we will be subject to these global, volatile prices.”
President Biden has discussed the tangible benefits of shifting to clean energy for American consumers.
“The president, in a speech he gave recently, talked about how moving to clean energy would save families $500 a year,” Boushey said. “That’s real money in people’s pockets.”
In order to push for this change, President Biden has introduced an agenda aimed at investing in the shift to clean energy.
“In the area of clean energy, just to continue where we were, the president has [an] agenda to help make those investments and to make them affordable for American families,” Boushey said.
Recently, the president has met with leaders in the utilities sector who acknowledged the economic benefits of his plan for Americans.
“The president’s plan to create tax incentives that made it cheaper for them to move to clean energy would make it cheaper for consumers — would go a long way toward cutting costs for the American consumer.”
