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A $1.5 million ad blitz is hitting conservative channels urging President Donald Trump and Sen. Todd Young not to kill clean energy tax credits as Congress debates a massive reconciliation bill.
The coalition behind the ad, Built for America, launched this month with a $2 million campaign to sway Trump and his supporters to defend renewable energy tax credits established by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. They are saturating conservative media platforms including Fox News, Truth Social and Rumble, as well as digital trucks looping the Capitol and Trump-friendly establishments.
The ads shape the tax credits as essential to American manufacturing and national security. They warn that chopping the credits would cover over four million jobs and hand China a win.
“Trump’s country is booming. We’re building, hiring and winning in America, because energy tax credits put America first,” one of the ads said.
Built for America is now expanding its reach by delivering new television ads in six states, including Indiana, aimed at pressuring Republican senators to keep the tax credits while they weigh in on the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Young has not taken a stance yet on the credits.
“Senator Young continues to have conversations with his colleagues and stakeholders about improving the House-passed bill and addressing our nation’s debt and deficit challenges,” Communications Director Matt Lahr said.
While some Republicans have labeled the billions in tax credits a “green new scam,” statistics reviewed by States Newsroom show the jobs and benefits would boost predominantly GOP-leaning states and congressional districts. Now the industry is already slowing amid Trump’s back-and-forth tariff policy and mixed messaging on energy and manufacturing.
The credits have bolstered the production of batteries and solar components in numerous states — top among them North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, South Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas, Nevada, Illinois and Oklahoma, according to the Clean Investment Monitor, a joint project by the Rhodium Group and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
The Senate draft of the bill was released Monday evening and continues to phase out tax credits associated with renewable energy. The bill extends tax credits for geothermal, hydropower and nuclear projects.
“President Trump promised to bring jobs and manufacturing back to America’s left-behind communities, and that’s exactly what these credits are doing,” said Mitch Carmichael, executive director of Built for America. “This isn’t about climate politics. It’s about American strength, investment, and families getting back to work. That’s the America First legacy we’re fighting to protect.”
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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