The energy issue is expected to become a top priority if it takes back the House or Senate next year, given the Republicans’ focus on rising gas prices ahead of the election.
It’s hard to get Republican bills into law with President Biden in the White House, but Republicans have vowed to introduce an energy boost bill. No matter how successful the Republican Party is on Election Day, it is highly unlikely that they will win a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
Still, the bill passed by House Republicans will give power to Republican messaging campaigns in 2023 and 2024 if they win the House as expected.
Perhaps more importantly, it will give the Republican House greater oversight of the Biden administration.
Partisan wars over energy are to be expected given deep partisan disagreements, but some say there are potential areas for cooperation.
Here’s what the Republican energy and climate agenda looks like:
Investigation and monitoring
Republicans have vowed to focus their efforts on oversight of the Biden administration.
In a statement to The Hill, Rep. James Comer (R-K.), a senior member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said the committee was a Republican majority that “has a Biden administration that will harm American workers and families.” We will strongly monitor the policies of
Kammer specifically pointed to the government’s decommissioning of the Keystone XL pipeline and restrictions on oil and gas leasing on state-owned land as two such oversight policies.
He also said the panel would investigate climate-related actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which has proposed requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their contributions to climate change. One that has met with considerable GOP backlash.
House Republicans are also seeking to investigate the Biden administration’s efforts to release oil from the nation’s strategic stockpile and the so far unfulfilled national climate emergency declaration.
They also have historically funded both successes like Tesla and failures like Solindra, a solar company that eventually went bankrupt after receiving federal loans. was indicated to monitor
oil and gas enrichment
Republicans want to establish themselves as champions of domestic energy production, suggesting they will do everything they can to contrast their stance with Democrats.
This is an issue that could become a major theme of the 2024 campaign.
The Republican Energy and Climate Plan, released in June, focuses on oil and gas development, which contributes significantly to climate change. Republicans argue that fuel is produced cleaner in the United States than in other parts of the world.
Documents related to that plan, obtained by Hill, point to legislation requiring the president to develop a plan to promote oil and natural gas production and authorize pipelines to import Canadian oil. rice field.
It also listed another bill that requires congressional approval before banning or deferring new oil, gas, coal or mineral leases. The bill appears to be aimed at the Biden administration suspending new oil and gas leases.
Peter Hoffman, Republican spokesman for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, also cited carbon capture. This seeks to capture emissions from natural gas plants, among other places.
Many of these proposals would face an uphill battle in the Senate, where most bills require 60 votes to pass because of the filibuster and the Biden White House.
“All Above” Energy
Fossil fuel energy is expected to be a key area of focus for Republicans, but that’s not the only type of energy the Republicans are trying to boost, they say.
“Oil and gas are just a part of all our energy approaches, including renewables like wind and solar, nuclear, hydro, and more,” said the Republican spokesman for the House Natural Resources. Rebekah Hoshiko says: Committee, by mail.
Hoshiko pointed to allowing reforms (a shorthand for policies that speed up the approval process for both fossil and other energy projects) and supporting mining as a way to unlock additional renewable energy.
It’s not clear if Democrats and Republicans will be able to strike a permitting deal at the lame duck conference, but if not, Republicans may try to tackle the issue on their own.
The Republican Climate and Energy Plan also points to legislation aimed at shortening the mining industry’s environmental review process, boosting hydropower in particular, and federal purchases of renewable power in general.
Republicans also generally support nuclear power.
It is also conceivable to enhance energy production from hydrogen. Hydrogen energy can be generated using various fuels such as nuclear, renewables and natural gas.
forestry
Republicans have pushed a pair of forestry bills in recent years and see them as potential areas for bipartisan cooperation.
One such bill seeks to increase the total number of trees planted each year in the United States.
The House version of the bill has three Democratic co-sponsors and over 100 Republican co-sponsors. The Nature Conservancy applauded efforts to expand plantations, but expressed concern about what they described as “provisions to avoid environmental analysis on public lands.”
It is even more likely to win support for a narrower bill aimed at protecting California’s giant sequoia trees.
