Julian Spector: Congressman Buddy Carter from Georgia — there he is. Let’s give him a warm Canary Media welcome.
It’s an honor to have you here. We’re just kicking off our first live event in Washington, D.C. Everyone is into the energy scene — the technologies and the policies. I wanted to start by saying why we were so excited to have you here. You’re the Republican congressman from Georgia’s 1st district.
Buddy Carter: Thank you! My district is around Savannah. You’ve got the entire coast of pristine coastline and two major seaports: the Port of Savannah and No. 3 container port in the country, and the Port of Brunswick, the No. 1 roll-on, roll-off port in the country. A lot of military presence, Fort Stewart, Kings Bay, two Coast Guard stations. A strong forestry presence, a strong ag presence.
Spector: And recently, about an $8 billion EV factory, right?
Carter: Yes, a $7.6 billion investment by Hyundai, the largest single economic development project in the history of our state. And we’re very, very proud of that.
As I say, $7.6 billion to generate about 8,500 jobs — it will probably be that much more investment and probably many more jobs and ancillary businesses. We’re very excited about it. They’ve already geared up and have announced that they’re even going to expand before they even got started.
Spector: And I think it’s making the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9. So if you have one of those cars, it’ll come from your district.
I’m from D.C., and I ended up going to college down in the South. (Go Blue Devils, figure that one out.) But sometimes, I think D.C. folks, we don’t always keep up with all the things happening in the South. There’s really a cluster of innovation and factories there. I was wondering if you could say, what has clean energy meant to the economy of Georgia, both in the manufacturing side and the installation of solar and battery projects?
Carter: First of all, Georgia is the No. 7 state in the nation in solar energy. We’re very proud of that. We’ve worked very diligently to make that happen. I like to say in Georgia, we’ve got a lot of pine trees, a lot of sunshine, a lot of pretty girls. We’ve got a lot to be proud of, and certainly sunshine and solar is very important.
I also would be remiss if I did not mention the fact that Georgia is the first state to have nuclear reactors in the last 30 years — Plant Vogtle.
I’m a nuclear fan. Plant Vogtle is the largest clean energy plant in the United States. We added two reactors, reactors 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle. And now, in addition to Plant Vogtle, Plant Hatch, which is in my district, is delivering about 33% of the energy in the state of Georgia right now. I think that’s very significant.
Spector: That’s a lot more than the nation as a whole. It’s about 18% or 19% of overall U.S. generation. So you’re above the national average there.
Carter: We talk a lot about the small [modular] reactors, SMRs, and we’re excited about them, too. But I think it’s significant to note that Southern Co. has said that their next investment is going to be another [AP1000]; they like the big reactors. I thought that was pretty significant for them to say that.
We look forward to that because nuclear power is a big part of what we’re doing. We also have battery plants in the state of Georgia.
Georgia, for 11 years in a row, has been the No. 1 state in which to do business, and there’s a reason for that. We are under good leadership from our governor, from our legislature. We create a pro-business environment, but we’ve also had the availability and accessibility and affordability of energy, which is very important.
Now let’s talk about affordability, because I think that’s an important thing to talk about as well. Yes, nuclear power is more expensive at this point, but I think it’s important to note that the difference between the cost of reactor No. 3 and reactor No. 4 was significant.
We learned a lot of things when we built reactor No. 3 that we were able to apply to reactor No. 4 that saved a lot of money.
Spector: So for full journalistic duty, there was quite a bit of going over budget on the total Vogtle project, but that’s an interesting point about bringing the overruns down with the learning.
Speaking of the cost of energy, I think we can’t ignore there’s a little something going on in Washington this week, which is this big, beautiful budget. I was looking back over a letter you wrote with some of your colleagues from the Conservative Climate Caucus last summer, basically saying that prematurely repealing the energy tax credits, particularly those used to justify investments that already broke ground, could undermine private investment and stop development that’s already ongoing. And I think that applies both to factories that are trying to make things in America, and power plants, solar plants.
So, you voted for the budget bill. What happened between the argument you were making in that letter last summer and the bill that you ultimately voted for?
Carter: Let’s stay focused on what we’re trying to do with one big, beautiful bill. If we do not pass that, Americans will be looking at the largest tax increase they’ve ever seen.
In fact, I’ve signed three letters saying that we should not take a sledgehammer to the Inflation Reduction Act. Instead, we should take a scalpel, because I’ve always said, and I continue to say, if these policies result in stabilizing our supply chain or if they result in domestic manufacturing, why wouldn’t we look at them? Why wouldn’t we keep them? That’s Republican priorities anyway.
I want to share a quick story with you because I thought it was somewhat humorous. I was calling up a supporter. And, you know, I’m running statewide. I should have mentioned that I’m running for U.S. Senate in the next election.
I called up a potential supporter, and he was saying, “Well, you signed that letter and you’re not supporting the president because you’re not doing away with the IRA.”
And I said, “Well, wait a minute now, why would we?”
He responded: “Well, if you want to keep some of those things, you ought to just do away with the IRA and then bring them back. So what’s the difference?”
Give me a break. Republican ideas, Democratic ideas. We do it all the time — we take things that the Democrats did, we claim them to be ours, and they do the same thing. They’re good ideas, and I think it’s important to note that. Some of these things did result in stabilizing the supply chain and in domestic manufacturing. Why wouldn’t we keep those things? Why wouldn’t we look at that? The Republicans want that just as much as the Democrats.
Now, having said that, let me make one thing clear: The decision to make the $7.6 billion investment and to build that plant was made pre-IRA.
Now, would they like to have the tax credits? Of course they would; any business would. But I think it is significant that we understand that decision was made. Let me assure you, as I have assured them, they made a wise decision. There’s going to be a market for EVs.
I’m one who strongly believes that the government shouldn’t be choosing winners and losers, because when the government chooses winners and losers, consumers lose. There’s going to be a market for EVs. It may not be in rural South Georgia, but eventually it will. I can assure you, in the urban areas, Hyundai is going to do great.
Spector: If the current budget gets enacted, it almost guarantees a lower demand for their product. Are you worried about the jobs in your district, or any kind of follow-on impacts from that?
Carter: I’m not naive enough to believe that it’s not going to have some impact. But as I said, the decision that Hyundai made was before those tax credits were there. I think they’re going to feel like they made a very wise decision in building this plant, making this investment.
I think it ought to be market-driven. I don’t think the government should be telling people what kind of car to be driving or what kind of appliance you’re going to be using. I just don’t think that’s the role of the government.
Spector: Do you see yourself having any role in trying to talk to your Senate colleagues and see if some of these credits could get back in on the Senate side in a way that ends up in the final package? Are you actively talking to anybody about that or trying to make that case?
Carter: Yes, yes. I do. I signed all three letters, and I didn’t just sign them — I meant it. I truly feel that way. So yes, I have been talking to some of our Senate colleagues, although I quite honestly don’t know how much difference it makes. I’m talking to these guys and trying to join them. I don’t know why.
The main thing is we’ve got to get these tax cuts extended. We have to make sure that we don’t have the largest tax increase in the history of the world.
We have companies coming into our office every day. They need stability. They need certainty in order to make investments. I understand that — I was in business for myself for 32 years. I ran three independent retail pharmacies — talk about swimming with sharks, I was up against the big boys.
The government’s been run in the past few decades by executive orders. We’ve got to get away from that. Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, you ought to feel, if you’re a member of Congress, that the legislative branch has got to assert themselves and their authority as our forefathers intended for it to be.
I am trying to encourage some of these senators and, even still, some House members, because it’s going to come back to us.
I’m not going to mislead you. It’s a heavy lift. I think the biggest hurdle we’re trying to get over is in the Senate, and some of those who, first of all, feel like, you know, we didn’t address the debt. That’s not what we were doing this for. Does it need to be addressed? Obviously. I’m on the budget committee. Obviously it needs to be addressed. And don’t think that we can’t do another reconciliation package. We can do another one, and I would submit to you that we need to do a budget reconciliation package for debt reduction.
I’m chair of the health subcommittee. I’m a pharmacist by profession. Medicaid, Medicare — we need reforms in that, but not here. Keep the main thing the main thing, and the main thing is to get these tax cuts extended, because if we don’t, the impact it’s going to have on our economy is going to be devastating.
Spector: And then another kind of impact that’s been flagged recently in a tweet from Tesla’s Elon Musk and his electric car company: It’s about the changes to tax credits, jeopardizing the ability to build the new power production we need for the AI boom.
After decades of pretty much flat demand for electricity, we’re now seeing pretty mind-blowing expectations of how much is going to be needed in the next few years. Solar is the thing that’s getting built the most across the country right now, and if the credits sort of shake up the investment landscape there, they’re saying it could jeopardize 60 gigawatts of annual deployment of clean energy.
Do you think your colleagues are grappling with that, a possibility that these cuts might actually undermine the president’s AI agenda and the sort of economic vitality that’s powered by electricity?
Carter: Look, I don’t care what economic sector you’re talking about. In Congress right now, the buzz at the Capitol is AI. Every committee is having a hearing on AI. Health subcommittee, we are having hearings on AI, and so is natural resources. Everything is AI right now.
We understand now, to your point, the demand for energy. That’s why I’m an all-of-the-above type energy strategist, because we are going to need every electron we can get. We all know how much data centers in AI are going to demand.
To your point, yes, we’re going to need solar, we’re going to need wind, we’re going to need nuclear and its baseload reliability. Yes, we’re going to need it. We’re going to need every available electron.
All of you understand how important this is. We cannot afford to lose this race to China. We cannot afford to lose the AI race to China. If we do, then God help us, and China’s trying to do it.
Spector: Setting aside the current budget battle, are there any specific policies you would want to propose to ensure the U.S. can meet its electricity needs for AI and all the new factories? Are there any specific policies you’d like to pass once the budget discussions get taken care of?
Carter: Absolutely. In the Energy and Commerce Committee, we’re working on a number of different policies. I mentioned that I’ve signed three letters. The last letter was with [Rep.] Dan Newhouse on nuclear energy.
We had this tragedy in Fukushima, and I was able to go to Japan and see what happened there. Europe’s kind of abandoned nuclear energy, but I think they’re going back now. I know France, thank goodness, didn’t abandon it; they’re providing it for everyone. Nuclear is going to be a big part of it. We’re going to need everything. I am encouraging my colleagues to look at everything.
Spector: I’ve been seeing in my reporting a lot of companies that used to talk a lot about climate, and nonprofits, NGOs, pulling back from using the word climate in today’s Washington. You’re still a leader of the Conservative Climate Caucus. So I wonder, can you get traction in President Trump’s Washington, using that word climate? Does that generate some pushback from your colleagues? Or do you think it’s important to keep using that language?
Carter: I know that some of you are not going to believe this, but Republicans are pro-environment. Being pro-growth and pro-environment are not mutually exclusive. You can be both, and we are both.
I have the honor and privilege of representing, as I said, the coast of Georgia. It’s where I’ve lived all my life and where I intend to live the rest of my life. Some of my fondest memories growing up are going fishing with my dad. I want my sons, I want my grandchildren, to have that same opportunity to enjoy those memories.
I love the environment. I’m not going to ever do anything intentionally to hurt the environment. I tell you, environmentalists are tough — you can be with 99.9% of the time, but that 0.1% of the time you’re not with them, oh boy, they will persecute you.
My point is, it is important for us as Republicans to acknowledge, and I do believe. I believe in climate change. I believe that man has an impact on the climate and that we need to address it.
I believe that we should be looking toward cleaner energy and renewable energy. I do believe that. That’s why I’m cochair of the Conservative Climate Caucus. That’s why I work. That’s why I signed those three letters. That’s why I’m working diligently on this. I want us to do that, but at the same time, we’ve got to be careful not to cut our nose off in spite of our face. It needs to be an approach that is sensible and logical.
Spector: Do you have any particular priorities regarding some sort of permitting reform or grid interconnection reform? Any dream goals you’d want to work on in the next session?
Carter: You know, I don’t care what sector of our economy you’re talking about, whether you’re talking about health care, whether you’re talking about communications technology, or whether you’re talking about energy. When people and companies come into my office, it is always the same — permitting regulations, crushing us. And that’s what we’ve got to address.
I’ll give you an example. I think this is relevant. As I said, I represent the city of Savannah. The Savannah Harbor expansion project, where we deepened our harbor from 42 feet to 47 feet in order to accommodate the bigger ships that are coming through — that project was finished in March of 2022.
The permitting — this is true — the permitting for that project started in 1996.
In that period of time, China has started and completed three new ports. The point I’m trying to make here: We can do a better job than this without endangering our environment, and we need to do a better job. It doesn’t matter what part of our economy you’re talking about, there are people coming to my office and saying permitting is killing us.
Spector: Is there any other message you’d like to leave our crowd with here? You know, on the future of clean energy in America?
Carter: Well, again, I’m proud of the state of Georgia. I’m proud of what we’ve done. We’ve been a pro-business state, and again, we’ve led in clean energy, nuclear energy, solar energy, all of it. I know some of y’all don’t like biomass, but I happen to like it, and if you look at the entire cycle, I think you agree that biomass, too, is something we should be looking at. And as I mentioned before, we’ve got a lot of pine trees in Georgia, so biomass is really big too.
Spector: Congressman, thank you for being here at Canary Live. Let’s give him a show of appreciation. Thank you and have a great rest of your week.
