It has been an election season for the history books, with the predicted red wave failing to materialize and Senate democrats bucking the tradition of the party in power losing seats in the midterm. Republicans have cinched the majority in the House, though by a much slimmer margin than previously hoped. At the same time, the Senate will remain under Democratic control, even with the Georgia race still being decided by a runoff election on December 6.
Many questions remain about what shape energy, climate, and public lands policies may take in the newly divided Congress. Divided government will likely slow President Joe Biden’s climate agenda, but it’s not expected to bring it to a complete stop.
The Biden administration has, until now, pursued a climate agenda based on big government spending, but Republicans enter the 118th Congress ready to enforce some fiscal discipline – and with runaway inflation and soaring debt, they likely have a voter mandate to do just that. Democrats may find repeating 2021’s climate infrastructure bill or this year’s Inflation Reduction Act challenging.
Winning the House means Republicans can conduct oversight investigations on how the Biden administration spends billions of dollars on energy loans and grants. Every Capitol Hill Republican seems to have the word “Solyndra” on the tip of their tongue. Republicans plan to hold the Energy Department, Treasury, and other agencies’ feet to the fire for any attempt to bypass Congress to implement climate policy and direct dollars away from traditional energy projects.
So far, Republicans’ top energy policy priorities include:
Oil and gas production.
Public lands leasing.
Energy reliability.
ESG ratings.
The high cost of energy.
But oversight isn’t the only opportunity Republicans have on energy and environmental policy. If the administration wants to continue prioritizing reducing carbon dioxide emissions, Republicans have an opportunity to show them a better way – one that focuses on smaller government, fiscal responsibility, and addressing the market failures in current policies.
Biden’s policies have included billions in subsidies for projects the private sector would have built anyway. Removing unnecessary regulatory barriers to private sector investment in clean energy projects and energy infrastructure would have a significant impact on carbon emissions without bleeding taxpayers. Addressing failures in the permitting process would increase the environmental benefits.
The chances of a permitting reform deal in the lame duck are low. Members want to deal with the must-pass spending bills and go home for the holidays. West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will push the idea, but there’s little appetite among his Senate colleagues to take it on this year. Republicans should come back in January ready to make the pitch that fixing government failures is the smart way to deal with climate change.
As Princeton University and the R Street Institute have both pointed out, achieving the full emissions reduction potential of the IRA will require major upgrades in electricity transmission to meet the demand for clean energy. Transmission infrastructure simply won’t be built on the scale or timeline envisioned by clean energy advocates without permitting reform.
Clean energy projects face the same problems with permitting delays as other projects. It takes more than a dozen years on average to permit a large wind or solar project. The problem isn’t the type of infrastructure – it’s the permitting process.
One of the biggest concerns in the energy sector is the effect of global unrest and the war in Ukraine on oil and gas prices. According to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, home heating costs have reached their highest level in over a decade. Families should expect to pay about 17% more to heat their home this winter.
President Biden drew down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) by nearly 40 percent – over 200 million barrels – in response to rising domestic energy prices. House Republicans have been outspoken about the administration’s approach to the crisis.
In February, Republicans Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, both members of the Roosevelt Conservation Caucus (RCC), introduced the American Independence from Russia Act. The legislation sought to increase U.S. energy production and security by approving the Keystone XL pipeline, removing restrictions on LNG exports, restarting oil and gas leasing on federal lands and offshore waters, and requiring the Department of Energy to make a plan to refill the SPR. Democrats blocked the bill six separate times.
“Without Republicans engaging in this debate, we will not make the progress we need to make as a country,” said Utah Republican Rep. John Curtis, founder of the Conservative Climate Caucus.
Rep. Westerman takes over as chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee on January 6. According to his office, the committee will advance “comprehensive legislation that unlocks American energy, reduces our dependence on China and Russia, and puts the U.S. where it belongs: as the global leader in affordable, sustainable energy production.”
For his part, Rep. Westerman is also looking to prioritize legislation that protects forests from wildfires through proactive measures, identify long-term solutions to drought in the West, and improve access to public lands.
Another RCC member, Rep. Pete Stauber of Minnesota, is committed to boosting domestic critical mineral production and supply chain reliability. Issues that must be addressed to achieve the Biden administration’s clean energy goals.
“Unleashing American energy and mineral dominance will be a priority of the Republican majority, and it starts with real permitting reforming, especially for mining,” Stauber told Fox News. “My Permitting for Mining Needs Act will improve our permitting process and limit frivolous litigation.”
Clean energy technologies like electric vehicle batteries, battery storage facilities, solar panels, and wind turbines require critical minerals like cobalt, copper, and lithium. But the United States remains largely dependent on other countries for these resources.
Renewable energy projects, especially large-scale wind and solar, have become big business in western states that are traditional Republican strongholds. Over the years, these projects have been recognized for their economic development, and partisan opposition has become more about how they are financed than “clean vs dirty” energy.
Despite growing bipartisan support for clean energy, the irony is that the government has been the biggest roadblock to deployment. Republicans now have an opportunity to fix that government failure and open the door to private investment in the kinds of energy that both parties – and their voters – want.