The following OpEd by ConservAmerica President Jeff Kupfer appeared in Real Clear Energy:
A couple weeks ago, at the end of another momentous term, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out what was known as Chevron deference, a 40-year-old doctrine that directed courts to defer to a federal agency’s expertise when interpreting ambiguous statutes. This principle had been one of the most widely used tools in the federal judiciary, reportedly cited in 70 Supreme Court cases and over 70,000 lower court cases.
Moving forward, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, courts must “exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority.”
Regardless of whether you agree with the Court’s decision, the practical implications are clear. Not only will agency actions be more rigorously reviewed by the courts, but Congress is going to have to step up and enact clear, comprehensive legislation. As long-serving Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley noted, the ruling now puts Congress under “extreme pressure to be more specific when writing legislation,” so there is no question on how a bill is interpreted.
The recognition about how Congress needs to function makes it even more disconcerting when its members focus on backward looking political blame games. Take for example, the Senate Budget Committee.
In February, the Congressional Budget Office published its annual budget and economic outlook. The numbers were startling: a 2024 budget deficit of $1.6 trillion, growing to $2.6 trillion in 2034; the debt held by the public reaching 116% of gross domestic product – the largest amount in our country’s history.
So with all this dire information, one would expect the Senate Budget Committee, created in 1974 “to manage the nation’s finances and establish a concrete fiscal vision,” to be laser focused on its mission. But unfortunately, that’s not the case.
In May, the Committee held what the ranking member counted as its 16th hearing on climate change and released a report alleging a climate misinformation campaign by the nation’s top oil and gas companies and their trade groups. Then a few weeks later, the chair asked the Department of Justice to pick up the investigation of “Big Oil” for price fixing. And at the end of June, the Committee piled onto an unsubstantiated allegation by the FTC, demanding that the chief executives of these companies provide any communications with the leaders of OPEC.
There’s no question that climate change is worthy of congressional discussion. But wouldn’t it make sense if those discussions occurred in committees that actually have the jurisdiction over the agencies and responsibility for policies that are at the core of the issue? And wouldn’t it be much more productive to focus on what could and should be done rather than looking backwards?
Congress and the administration should use the legal paradigm shift brought about by the Supreme Court decision to correct course – to have a renewed focus on achieving durable, consensus solutions that move the country towards a net zero future.
Any discussion needs to consider the realities around growing global energy demand and the important geopolitical role that our energy plays. Current sources of energy are not just a lesser evil that we should tolerate, but a strategic asset that we should celebrate.
Look at U.S. natural gas. A few months ago, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that the U.S. exported a record volume of natural gas in 2023 – 10% more than in 2022. These exports of responsibly produced U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) have been instrumental in assisting many of our allies. In Asia, for instance, U.S. LNG allows countries to back away from coal and reduce global emissions. In Europe, our LNG has allowed countries to keep their economic footing even as they sever the use of Russian gas.
We need to recognize that if we don’t do it, someone else will. Last week, Saudi Aramco announced a $25 billion investment to expand its natural gas production to meet anticipated rising demand.
At the same time, industry continues to improve its environmental performance. According to EIA, venting and flaring of natural gas declined again in 2023.
But those positive facts are often ignored in the rush to demonize energy companies, something that always seems to gather more steam as we get into an election year.
Ultimately, these types of tactics demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of what we need to do to address climate change along with the growing demand for energy. Rather than trying to score political points and assess blame, policymakers and advocates should focus on the future. That’s the best way to actually make a difference.
Jeffrey Kupfer is a former acting deputy secretary of the Department of Energy and a former assistant to the president for economic policy. He is also the president of ConservAmerica.
This OpEd appeared in Real Clear Energy on July 18, 2024.