How Washington underestimated Biden's big climate law

Washington’s budget wonks may have underestimated the size of Joe Biden’s signature climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, when it passed last year — and by a lot.

At the time, Capitol Hill’s official scorekeepers predicted that the bill’s tax credits for clean energy and green manufacturing would cost about $270 billion over a decade — making it the country’s largest ever investment in decarbonization.

But last week, as House Republicans sought to repeal much of the law in their debt ceiling bill, the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation revised the price tag. The new forecast: $468 billion through 2031, the last year covered by both the new and original estimates.