E&E News: Centrist Democrats Endorse Six More Climate Bills
The centrist New Democrat Coalition is adding six more bills to its slate of endorsed proposals to combat and respond to climate change.
There's little chance that any of these measures will move by themselves before the year's end, with the legislative calendar rapidly closing amid the November elections.
And while elements of some of these proposals have already been incorporated into the massive energy package the House is expected to pass later today, the underlying bill is being opposed by Republicans and faces a veto threat from the Trump administration (see related story).
Still, with Democrats expected to regain control of the House next year as chances of recapturing the Senate as well as the White House present strong possibilities, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) recently pledged to leverage that scenario to draft sweeping climate legislation early in 2021.
At that point, there would likely be lengthy debates — and fierce disagreements — about what proposals to advance and which to shelve.
Self-described pragmatists will be battling unapologetic progressives on how close to move toward an embrace of the Green New Deal.
So the group of 104 House moderates is staking out its position now, showing where there is consensus inside the party's center base.
"Powering our country through cleaner energy sources is not just an environmental imperative, it's also an economic priority," said Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), a co-chair of the New Democrat Coalition's Climate Change Task Force, in a statement this week.
"By adopting a smart, inclusive approach, we can protect our environment while also creating millions of decent-paying jobs that can't be outsourced."
The new bill endorsements also build on the New Democrat Coalition's earlier steps to articulate its vision for combating the climate crisis and establish its members as leaders in this legislative arena.
In August 2019, the group released a formal climate policy platform, the principles of which included making the United States a global leader in fighting climate change; investing in communities in need of relief related to climate change; and embracing a "climate-forward" economy that incentivizes environmental stewardship (Greenwire, Aug. 7, 2019).
Since that time, it has endorsed 23 climate bills that represent "forward-looking, politically durable solutions, many of which have bipartisan support."
In July, the coalition sent Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) a letter asking them to take up any of these 23 bills for floor consideration in the months ahead, on their own or as part of a still-elusive agreement on the next wave of federal coronavirus relief (E&E Daily, July 29).
The six bills the New Democrat Coalition endorsed this morning, shared first with E&E News, round out the list to 29.
"There simply isn't a moment to lose to combat the climate crisis and get our country on the path to net-zero carbon pollution. To protect our communities, our national security and our economic interests, the federal government has a moral obligation to act," said the New Democrat Coalition's chairman, Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash). "We will continue pushing these policies forward to transition to a climate-forward economy."
The bills are:
· H.R. 8021, from Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.), which would direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create incentives for making new and existing housing structures more energy-efficient.
· H.R. 5542, from Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), which would provide incentives for replacing aging home distribution pipelines — a major source of methane leakage, a contributor to climate change — and protect low-income households from having to shoulder the cost of the replacements.
· H.R. 2360, from Del. Stacey Plaskett (D-U.S. Virgin Islands), which would create grant programs in renewable energy and energy efficiency in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
· H.R. 3607, from Texas Democratic Reps. Marc Veasey and Lizzie Fletcher, which would promote new research and development activities in carbon storage and utilization, launch new initiatives in carbon dioxide removal, and authorize new staff in certain federal research facilities and national laboratories.
· H.R. 8253, from Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), which would direct 30% of offshore wind revenues to the NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program, which funds projects helping coastal communities prepare for and recover from natural disasters, climate change and eroding coastlines.
· H.R. 5760, from Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.), which would authorize the Department of Energy to develop new technologies to improve the resilience of the electric grid, including its ability to withstand the effects of climate change and extreme weather.
By: Emma Dumain
Source: E&E News
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