Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News / Getty Images
Last week, Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) released the full text of S. 2657, the American Energy Innovation Act (AEIA), intended to “strengthen our domestic economy, national security, and international competitiveness while facilitating cleaner energy that protects human health and the global environment.”
The 550-page AEIA includes much of the work done in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in 2019 and is comprised of more than 50 individual energy bills sponsored or cosponsored by more than 60 senators.
Significant provisions in the AEIA focus on energy efficiency; renewable energy; energy storage; carbon capture, utilization, and storage; advanced nuclear; industrial and vehicle technologies; mineral security, cyber and grid security and modernization; and workforce development.
>
“This bill is our best chance to modernize our nation’s energy policies in more than 12 years. By working together to pass it into law, we can promote a range of emerging technologies that will help keep energy affordable even as it becomes cleaner and cleaner.”
The legislative package would reauthorize the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), mandate greater energy efficiency in federal buildings, extend incentives for hydroelectric power, and authorize more research for advanced wind, solar, and geothermal energy as well as storage technology.
Concerning nuclear energy, which produces half the nation’s carbon-free power, the legislation authorizes an advanced nuclear energy research program and programs to continue the operation of existing nuclear plants.
The package also establishes programs for improving carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology, as well as large scale removal of carbon dioxide from the air.
>
“This bill will connect energy-producing communities, including in states like West Virginia and Alaska, to new markets and job opportunities while laying the groundwork for the Department of Energy to advance new and necessary critical emissions-reducing technologies.”
ConservAmerica welcomes the comprehensive package and commends Senators Murkowski and Manchin for advancing commonsense proposals to reduce carbon dioxide emissions while maintaining America’s position as a global leader in advanced energy technologies and energy production. Many of the provisions included in the package are sorely needed as it has been over a dozen years since the nation’s energy policies have been updated.
Over the next several days, we will take a closer look at the individual parts of the package and the proposed amendments being considered on the Senate floor. In the meantime, you can read a high-level summary here.