The rollout of a multibillion-dollar ‘green’ hydrogen plan may help the U.S. dominate the energy transition — and give critics another target.

The Biden administration raised the stakes on its politically fraught bet on massive subsidies for nascent clean-energy technologies Friday, rolling out a plan for awarding billions of dollars in tax credits to the makers of ultrapowerful “green” hydrogen fuel. Get a curated selection of 10 of our best stories in your inbox every weekend. The fuel is made by splitting water molecules and may eventually power shipping vessels and factories. Under the proposal, which will be finalized next year, recipients of the subsidies would need to demonstrate that the huge amounts of energy needed to make their hydrogen are not coming from fossil fuels and that they have brought in enough new clean electricity to fully power their operations. The lucrative government supports are the latest major climate incentive that the administration is putting into place through the Inflation Reduction Act, the historic spending package designed to give the United States a leg up in the energy transition and help the country dramatically curb greenhouse gas emissions.

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