With Republicans winning the U.S. House of Representatives in addition to the Senate and the presidency resulting in a governing trifecta and as Donald Trump has already made several cabinet and staff nominations the expected impact was at the heart of a highly informative and lively debate. Gerold Koch, Head of Sustainable Investment at Allianz Global Investors interviewed Simon Book, U.S. Correspondent in Berkley of leading German news magazine DER SPIEGEL - with executives, investors, and advisors in energy, pharma, and other sectors asking questions and weighing in.

Key topics on energy and sustainability were in line with our recent post: Emphasis on U.S. fossil fuel dominance, regulatory rollbacks, e.g. removal of oil and gas drilling regulations, and expedited ending of the moratorium on LNG exports seem likely. Most importantly the expected treatment of the IRA – and how much of it will remain – under the new administration was a key part of the debate.

Independent of the event - and according to Reuters - Trump’s team led by oil executive and Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm and Republican North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum are targeting some Biden clean-energy policies and are planning to end EV tax credits – with Tesla representatives supporting this. The rationale may be that ending the incentive could hurt rising EV competitors more than Tesla.

Regardless of final outcome, it is of critical importance for EV firms, utilities, energy firms, and other players building out EV infrastructure to factor this into their scenarios and to incorporate implications into their How-to-Win strategies – clearly a core competence at SDI Management Consulting.

After the event, I had an opportunity to discuss the implications in more detail with members of the Atlantik-Bruecke who were instrumental in organizing this exceptional event, i.e., Peter Pohlner, Georg Fahrenschon, Dierk Neugebauer, Dr. Rebekka Hye-Knudsen, and many others.