Climate science, policy, politics, and action
The Committee will hold a field hearing titled “Trade in America: Agriculture and Critical Supply Chains – Kimball, Minnesota.” The hearing will take place at 2:30 PM on Monday, July 10, 2023, at Schiefelbein Farms in Kimball, Minnesota.
On Monday, June 26, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. PDT, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold an oversight field hearing titled “The Northwest at risk: the environmentalist’s effort to destroy navigation, transportation, and access to reliable power.” The hearing will focus on the multipurpose benefits of the Columbia and Snake Rivers and the Federal Columbia River Power System, in particular the lower Snake River dams.
This hearing will be held in the auditorium of Richland High School, located at 930 Long Avenue in Richland, Washington.
Witnesses:
Subcommittee markup of Fiscal Year 2024 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Bill.
The State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs bill provides $52.5 billion for programs under the jurisdiction of the Subcommittee, which is $16.4 billion (24%) below the President’s Budget Request, $7.2 billion (12%) below FY23 enacted level, and $1.7 billion below the FY19 enacted level.
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“None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act under the heading ‘‘Multilateral Assistance’’ may be used to implement, administer, or otherwise carry out Executive Order 14008 (relating to Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad), including the memorandum entitled ‘‘Guidance on Fossil Fuel Energy at the Multilateral Development Banks’’, issued by the Department of the Treasury on August 16, 2021.”
“None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available as a contribution, grant, or any other payment to the Green Climate Fund.”
“None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available as a contribution, grant, or any other payment to the Clean Technology Fund.”
“None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available to pay compensation to any country, organization, or individual for loss and damages attributed to climate change.”
“Funds appropriated by this Act and made available for the sectors and programs in sections 7032 [Democracy Programs], 7036 [Human Trafficking], 7059 [Women’s Equality and Empowerment], and 7060 [Basic Education and Higher Education] shall not be attributed to, or counted toward targets for, climate change programs.”
“None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used by the Secretary of State to impede the uninterrupted transmission of hydrocarbons by pipeline through the territory of one Party not originating in the territory of that Party, for delivery to the territory of the other Party as ratified by The Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Canada concerning Transit Pipelines, signed at Washington on January 28, 1977.”
“The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study on funds appropriated in prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs from fiscal years 2020 through 2023 made available for climate change programs and whether such funds have had a direct result on lowering global temperatures.”
“None of the funds appropriated under title III of this Act may be made available for renewable energy programs as part of Power Africa until the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development certifies and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that no less than the total funds allocated for renewable energy during the previous fiscal year has been allocated in fiscal year 2024 for other sources of energy [oil, natural gas, coal] included in paragraph (8) of section 3 of the Electrify Africa Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–121).”
On Thursday, June 22, 2023, at 2:00 p.m., in Room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands will hold a legislative hearing on the following bills:
Witnesses:
The Subcommittee on Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials has scheduled a hearing on Thursday, June 22, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. (ET) in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The title of the hearing is “Driving Affordability: Preserving People’s Freedom to Buy Affordable Vehicles and Fuel.”
Legislation to be discussed:
Witnesses:
Panel One
Panel Two
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee Chair Bill Johnson (R-OH) released the following statement:
“Americans need affordable, reliable transportation to get to work, take their children to school, go to the doctor, and live their lives. Today, however, people are struggling to afford some of the highest energy and auto prices in decades as a result of Biden’s energy and inflation crisis. His rush-to-green policies are hurting middle- and low-income families the most. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent regulatory efforts to advance this radical agenda, particularly on the kind of cars Americans can drive and the fuels they can use, risk further disrupting fuel markets and increasing transportation costs. We look forward to holding this hearing with EPA officials and stakeholders to discuss how we can increase—not limit—people’s choices and access to reliable, affordable transportation fuels and vehicles.”
H.R. 1435 amends CAA section 209(b)—the conditions under which EPA can grant a waiver to a State (i.e., California) for a motor vehicle emissions standard. Specifically, H.R. 1435 adds an additional requirement that must be satisfied for EPA to provide a State a waiver for its vehicle emissions standards: the State directive cannot “directly or indirectly” limit the sale or use of new motor vehicles with an ICE. H.R. 1435 also prevents EPA from considering State standards amended after the date of enactment of this bill as having qualified under an existing waiver. Finally, H.R. 1435 revokes any CAA section 209(b) waivers California received between January 1, 2022, and the date H.R. 1534 becomes law if the California motor vehicle standard receiving a waiver “directly or indirectly” limited the sale or use of new motor vehicles with an ICE.
H.R. 3337 has two distinct pieces to it related to the definition of “advanced biofuel” in the RFS under CAA section 211(o)(1)(B). First, it allows “ethanol derived from corn starch” to qualify for RFS volume requirements as a “renewable fuel” and an “advanced biofuel.” Second, because the definition of “advanced biofuel” requires a determination by EPA that the fuel has lifecycle GHG emissions “that are at least 50 percent less than baseline lifecycle GHGs,” H.R. 3337 requires EPA, 90 days after enactment and then every 5 years, to update its methodology for analyzing lifecycle GHG emissions from ethanol derived from corn starch and biomass-based diesel. For the first iteration, H.R. 3337 requires EPA to use the most recent Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation model (“GREET model”’) GREET is a tool developed by the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory to examine the lifecycle impacts for any given energy and vehicle system; it can calculate total energy consumption (non-renewable and renewable), emissions of air pollutants, emissions of greenhouse gases, and water consumption.
The No Fuels Credits for Batteries Act clarifies that EPA is not authorized to use credits for electricity generated from renewable fuel to satisfy the volume of renewable fuel that needs to be contained in transportation fuel for purposes of the RFS. The legislation also prohibits the use or transfer of any eRINs credits generated before the date of enactment (to address any gap with EPA’s December 1, 2022, proposal). Finally, it defines “renewable fuel” and “transportation fuel” using their RFS definitions.
The Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act has two parts. First, it prohibits the EPA from finalizing, implementing, or enforcing its proposed rule titled “Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles” that was published in the Federal Register on May 5, 2023. Second, it amends CAA section 202(a)(2) to prevent any regulations previously issued with this authority from mandating the use of any specific technology or resulting in the limited availability of new motor vehicles based on that vehicle’s engine type. It also gives EPA two years to update those regulations that mandate the use of a specific technology or result in the limited availability of new vehicles based upon that vehicle’s engine.
This is a hearing of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment to review the FY 2024 budget for agencies under its jurisdiction, including the Army Corps of Engineers, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway.
Witnesses:
A hearing focused on a multinational meat producer turning a blind eye as parts of its supply chain burn down the Amazon, push the world toward climate catastrophe, and undercut American ranchers who play by the rules on international trade.
Member Statements:
Witnesses
Full Committee markup of Fiscal Year 2024 Defense and Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies bills.
Consideration of the FY Defense Appropriations bill:
Consideration of the FY Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill:
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The Committee recommendation for fiscal year 2024 Department of Defense discretionary funding is $826,448,000,000, which exceeds the President’s budget request by $285,867,000.
From the committee report:
“While the Committee appreciates the budget request’s increase in funding for the Department, it is concerning that the Administration has poorly prioritized funds within the request to include proposals for climate change initiatives.”
“The Committee recommendation includes a reduction of $714,840,000 for unjustified requests that seek to mitigate climate risk but do not improve combat capability or capacity. The Committee is dismayed that the budget request mischaracterizes requirements such as routine infrastructure and utilities upgrades, long-standing statutory compliance activities, combatant commander theater-setting efforts, and multilateral cold weather exercises as mitigating climate risk. This is a disingenuous practice that serves the Administration’s prerogative at the expense of clarity in the Department’s request and the Committee’s ability to perform oversight.”
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2024 totals $52,378,000,000, $1,622,000,000 below fiscal year 2023 and $7,542,590,000 below the budget request.
From the committee report:
“The recommendation rejects the requested increase to assess the potential impact of climate change on aquatic ecosystems.”
Army Corps of Engineers Climate Officers: “The recommendation provides funding equal to the enacted level. Additionally, the recommendation rejects the request to fund a person in each division office with the responsibility of identifying ways to advance resilience to climate change across the nation. No funding is provided for this effort, and the Committee expects the Corps to utilize this funding to prioritize program delivery.”
“The Committee notes the importance of the deployment of advanced reactors to the nation’s ability to regain its leadership in nuclear energy and the contribution of nuclear energy to meeting climate goals.”
Department of Energy Office of Science: “The Department is encouraged to increase its support of activities for academia to perform independent evaluations of climate models using existing data sets and peer-reviewed publications of climate-scale processes in order to determine various models’ ability to reproduce the actual climate.”
“The recommendation provides not less than $39,000,000 to improve the understanding of key cloud, aerosol, precipitation, and radiation processes. The Department is encouraged to coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies, as relevant, to support analysis of near-term climate risks and impacts on infrastructure and communities. Within available funds, $3,000,000 is for a pilot program to provide instrumentation for observing marine aerosols, greenhouse gases, and other environmental factors, as relevant, deployed on commercial or other nondedicated ocean vessels and to evaluate a sustained observing network using such platforms. The Committee supports the Department’s efforts to develop a five-year plan for research to support a scientific assessment of near-term climate risk and solar and other climate interventions.”
Subcommittee hearing to examine the Fiscal Year 2024 State and Foreign Operations Budget Request for Africa.
Witnesses:
The planned $55 billion investment in Africa announced by President Biden at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit builds on existing programs with a proven track record and provides funding for promising new initiatives.
Turning to Power Africa, which marks its 10-year anniversary this year, the initiative has closed 145 transactions and facilitated access to electricity for more than 172 million people in subSaharan Africa. The $100 million request will accelerate efforts to increase electricity generation capacity in sub-Saharan Africa in support of the Electrify Africa Act. Power Africa will expand work with partners to develop and finance cleaner and renewable energy projects, connect critical transmission lines, improve the efficiency and bankability of energy systems, and promote enabling environment reforms to attract and sustain long-term private sector investment across clean energy markets.
A subcommittee hearing to discuss the impact of federal programs and policies on the domestic energy sector supply chain titled “Microvast and More: Oversight of President Biden’s Energy Spending Spree.”
Witness:
MESC will implement several provisions of the IIJA and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), managing the programs authorized and administering the related funding. MESC executes the following IIJA programs: the Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program; the Battery and Critical Mineral Recycling Programs (Retailers as Collection Points, and State and Local Programs); Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Grants; Battery Material Processing Grants; Energy Efficient Transformer Rebates; Extended Product System Rebates; Implementation Grants for Industrial Research and Assessment Centers; Industrial Assessment Centers; and State Manufacturing Leadership. MESC also manages the Domestic Manufacturing Conversation Grants and Defense Production Act activities funded by the IRA.