Fossil fuel-funded group attacks Slotkin for backing clean energy infrastructure law

A political group bankrolled by the oil and gas company Koch Industries has launched a $10 million campaign to attack Democratic lawmakers over their votes for the Inflation Reduction Act, the 2022 law that invested in clean energy infrastructure and instituted a 15% minimum tax for large corporations.

Americans for Prosperity Action, an arm of the climate-science-denying Americans for Prosperity, falsely claimed in a Sept. 5 press release that the Inflation Reduction Act, which all six targeted Democrats backed, “has cost families across the country an additional $1,000 every month.” 

Inflation has dropped significantly since passage of the law.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Americans for Prosperity Action said the data came from Republicans on the Joint Economic Committee, data that referred to the total impact of inflation since 2021. The spokesperson acknowledged that the law was not the sole source of those increased costs: “The so-called Inflation Reduction Act was $1.2T in additional spending that pushed inflation over that $1,000 per month threshold. We aren’t saying the IRA was solely responsible. The nearly $2T American Rescue Plan – supported by the same Senators – also played a major role in sending inflation into overdrive and contributing to that staggering figure. We call out the IRA specifically since the name of the bill – The Inflation Reduction Act – did not, in fact, reduce inflation.”

The Inflation Reduction Act contained provisions to cap the cost of insulin and prescription drugs for Medicare Part D subscribers, to extend health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act for three years, and to lower the cost of clean energy for consumers.

In Michigan, the group is running a 30-second ad against U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democratic nominee for retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s open seat. 

“Elissa Slotkin wants a promotion? Let’s look at her record. Slotkin voted for the $1.2 trillion Inflation Reduction Act that drove inflation higher,” the ad claims, citing no sources for the claim that inflation rose.

Inflation had increased under former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, but has cooled significantly since June 2022. Economic experts attributed the spike mostly to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to COVID-19, which disrupted global supply chains. 

Economist Stephen Brown said in an email to CNBC in July, “We only have to look at the still high inflation rates in most other advanced economies to see that most of this inflation period was really about global trends … rather than about the specific policy actions of any given government (though they did of course play some role).”

The ad then says Republican nominee and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers will “stop Washington’s wasteful spending that’s driving up costs, unleash American energy to defend Michigan jobs, and stand up to both parties to deliver real results.” Rogers, who in 2008 said he hoped for an all-electric commute someday, now opposes Biden’s efforts to facilitate a transition to electric vehicles. He has a long history of supporting expanded oil and gas drilling.

According to its filings with the Federal Election Commission, Americans for Prosperity Action has received about $141 million in donations so far this cycle.

Of that, at least $40 million came directly from Koch Industries; $25 million was from the Koch-linked Stand Together Chamber of Commerce; and $8.5 million was from their affiliated In Pursuit Of public relations agency.