Biden talked about a tax credit for solar panels in the Reduced Inflation Act without telling Americans to buy solar panels to lower their winter heating bills.
Winter is still a month away from the official start of winter, but many Americans are already heating their homes in sub-zero temperatures.
Now, some on Twitter are claiming that President Joe Biden is telling Americans worried about their heating bills this winter to buy solar panels for their homes. Two of these posts have been shared thousands of times.
"Joe Biden says if people are worried about their heating bills this winter, they should buy solar panels for their homes," read the post, which has more than 12,000 likes.
The message includes a video clip of President Biden saying, "If you want to install solar panels on your roof, you can get a 30% tax credit on the cost and that will reduce your installation costs by about $7,500." The video has been viewed more than 900,000 times.
question
Is President Biden advising people worried about winter heating bills to buy solar panels?
SOURCE
ANSWER
No, President Biden is not suggesting that people worried about winter heating bills buy solar panels.
WHAT WE FIND
People on social media took Biden's comments about solar panels out of context. The president spoke about the energy stimulus included in the anti-inflation law during a meeting with business and union leaders. He didn't tell Americans worried about heating bills this winter to install solar panels, the viral post claims.
Using TinEye, a reverse image search tool, VERIFICATION tracked down tweeted video clips from a Nov. 18 White House meeting to discuss the economy.
Video of Biden's speech is available on C-SPAN's website. The White House also has the full transcript on its website.
In his opening remarks, Biden said he had gathered a group of business and labor leaders to "discuss progress in building the economy from the bottom up and the middle."
The president later discussed benefits included in the Reduced Inflation Act, including lowering the cost of some prescription drugs for Medicare patients, such as a $35 cap on the price of insulin and an energy-saving home improvement tax credit .
"In six short weeks, Americans will begin to feel the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act," Biden said at the meeting.
Around 5:49 a.m., Biden began talking about the energy stimulus included in the Inflation Reduction Act.
He said a tax credit of up to $3,200 will be available to people who make their homes more energy efficient starting January 1, 2023, as well as tax credits for installing windows, doors, heat pumps and panels electric.
Then, around 6:35 a.m., Biden talked about solar panel tax credits in his speech.
“If you want to install solar panels on your roof, you can get a tax credit for 30% of the cost. This will reduce installation costs by approximately $7,500,” he said. "And if you continue to save money on your electric bills for the rest of the year, that's an average of about $300 a year."
The first sentence of this quote is exactly what Biden said at the end of the viral video circulating on social media.
Biden is reportedly offering solar panels as a solution for people struggling to pay their heating bills. While he discusses how consumers can generally save with energy efficiency incentives, he does not propose these changes as a direct solution to home heating.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
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