House GOP budget targets climate law

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Mar 08, 2024 View in browser   By Jack Quinn Presented by Chevron House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) called the current fiscal trajectory of the U.S. "unsustainable" while seeking deep cuts to federal spending. | Yuri Gripas/AP House Republicans’ 2025 budget blueprint made it abundantly clear: Billions of dollars in climate spending under President Joe Biden will be slashed if the GOP controls Congress and the White House at this time next year. The House Budget Committee voted this week to pass its non-binding budget blueprint for funding the government beginning Oct. 1, including a recommendation to repeal $250 billion in clean energy and climate provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, the administration’s signature climate legislation, as Timothy Cama writes. The budget, meant to guide the House’s spending and appropriations strategy, may be the closest thing to a GOP party platform that voters will see before November’s general election. Since taking control of the House in 2023, Republicans have voted over and over again to partially or entirely repeal the IRA. The House votes match up with the views of former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination. Trump has assailed IRA tax credits for electric vehicles and has crusaded against wind energy, even suggesting turbines cause cancer. The Department of Energy under Biden is using its loan office to boost energy technology aimed at cutting climate pollution. Conservative think tanks have mapped out changes under a GOP-led administration that would gut the agency’s clean energy initiatives. ‘Reverse the Curse’ The contrast with Biden couldn’t be sharper. During Thursday night’s State of the Union address, Biden touted spending and tax plans in a $1.2 trillion infrastructure law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the IRA – some of which is projected to bring down U.S. deficit spending. Biden boasted that IRA tax credits are fueling “tens of thousands of clean energy jobs,” pointing to plans to build electric vehicles at a plant in Belvidere, Illinois, and the boon to union labor. The House Republican budget blueprint, titled “Reverse the Curse,” seeks to cut federal spending by over $14 trillion over a decade and balance the budget. Federal food assistance, social programs and foreign aid would all face the music. Taxes would be cut under optimistic economic-growth projections. The blueprint calls for passage of the Republicans’ Lower Energy Cost Act, which would repeal the bulk of Biden’s regulations and nearly $400 billion in the IRA for clean energy. IRA tax credits are “green corporate energy tax subsidies,” Republican Budget Chair Jodey Arrington of Texas has said. “We all know our current fiscal trajectory is unsustainable,” he said, “and the catastrophic and the irreparable harm that will come to this if we fail to act.” The top House Democrat on the budget panel, Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, criticized the GOP’s plan. “Even after trillions of dollars in draconian cuts they make to programs that help the most in need, this Republican budget still doesn’t balance,” he said.   It's Friday — thank you for tuning in to POLITICO's Power Switch. I'm your host, Jack Quinn. Power Switch is brought to you by the journalists behind E&E News and POLITICO Energy. Send your tips, comments, questions to jquinn@eenews.net.   On the ground in Albany. Get critical policy news and analysis inside New York State. Track how power brokers are driving change across legislation and budget and impacting lobbying efforts. Learn more.     Listen to today’s POLITICO Energy podcast Today in POLITICO Energy’s podcast: Jordan Wolman breaks down the pushback on the Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule for publicly traded companies.   A message from Chevron: Chevron knows methane management is critical for a lower carbon future. We’re striving to lead in methane management with innovative practices, partnerships, and new technologies. These are a few ways we’re aiming to keep methane in the pipe.   Power Centers Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has warned that a state-run insurance program is on the brink of collapse. | Charlie Neibergall/AP DeSantis' big claim about climate risk Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ claim that the state’s property insurance program is “not solvent” may not be entirely accurate, Thomas Frank writes. DeSantis had stated on multiple occasions in recent months that Citizens Property Insurance Corp. of Florida, the state’s largest insurance program with 1.2 million policies and $17.8 billion in reserves, is unprepared to cover all of its claims and expenses in the event of a major hurricane. Citizens’ financial reports from December show that the company has $18 billion in total reserves for paying out claims, and is projected to post a $6.3 billion surplus in 2024. “Citizens is structured so that it will always have the ability to pay claims,” DeSantis’ deputy press secretary Julia Friedland said in an email to E&E News. The confusion underscores a new reality: As the effects of climate change intensify in the coming decades and hurricanes hit Florida with increasing strength and frequency, the issue of strengthening disaster preparedness measures will only take on growing importance. Ukraine and the EU carbon tax The European Union’s proposed tax on carbon-heavy imports would have a massive effect on Ukraine’s economy, Federica di Sario writes. The pending EU legislation would impose a tax on companies importing goods from countries with less stringent environmental standards, raising concerns that Ukraine — a major exporter of iron and steel with far lighter pollution standards than the EU — will be dealt a severe economic blow when the law takes effect in 2026. Ukraine sends roughly 85 percent of its iron and steel exports to the European Union. If the carbon tax were implemented today, it would lead to over $1 billion in losses for Ukrainian heavy industry, according to Stanislav Zinchenko, who owns an independent iron and steel consultancy based in Kyiv. There is a clause in the EU law for “exceptional circumstances,” but Brussels hasn’t yet indicated whether an exemption will be extended in the case of Ukraine (considering the Russian invasion). The EU’s proposed carbon border tax legislation, the first of its kind from an inter-governmental body, is designed to keep European manufacturers competitive relative to the global marketplace. Sage grouse protections are back (sort of) The Biden administration is preparing to partially re-impose Obama-era environmental protections for the sage grouse, Scott Streater writes. The Bureau of Land Management will present a new framework that imposes most of the restrictions on oil drilling and other activities in the greater sage grouse’s habitat across 10 states in the West. Obama's 2015 protections were rolled back in 2019 under the Trump administration. The greater sage grouse is a non-migratory bird native to the shrubs of the Rocky Mountains known for its intricate — albeit goofy — mating dance. Conservation efforts around the species have been the topic of fierce debate. Proponents claim that energy operations threaten the biodiversity of the region’s ecosystem, while critics argue that the measures do too much harm to local economies. Concerns over the sage grouse have now delayed the environmental review process for a 235-mile long high-voltage transmission line to northern Nevada, as Scott Streater also writes today.   A message from Chevron:   In Other News Warp speed: After installing the most new green energy capacity of any country in history last year, Chinese policymakers have announced plans to further accelerate the construction of solar and wind farms. Lithium slowdown: U.S. producers are delaying timelines for project development, as persistently low market prices continue to dog a fledgling industry.   A message from Chevron: By 2028, our upstream methane intensity target is set to be 53% below the 2016 baseline. To help us get there, we’ve trialed over 13 advanced methane technologies including satellites, planes, drones, and fixed sensors to help reduce methane emissions intensity. In the Permian, we have deployed real-time autonomous optimizers that continuously monitor facilities and well conditions to help prevent flaring, venting and well shutdowns. Developing new solutions to provide energy that’s affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner, that’s energy in progress.   Subscriber Zone A showcase of some of our best subscriber content. Biden said in his State of the Union that the administration's energy policies are creating tens of thousands of new jobs. New York’s low cap-and-trade price ceiling will cause the state to miss its net-zero targets without additional state or federal policy, according to an analysis from NYSERDA. The Treasury Department has backed down from plans to require property insurers to report the effects of climate change on their operations. That's it for today, folks. Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!   DON’T MISS POLITICO’S HEALTH CARE SUMMIT: The stakes are high as America's health care community strives to meet the evolving needs of patients and practitioners, adopt new technologies and navigate skeptical public attitudes toward science. Join POLITICO’s annual Health Care Summit on March 13 where we will discuss the future of medicine, including the latest in health tech, new drugs and brain treatments, diagnostics, health equity, workforce strains and more. REGISTER HERE.       Follow us on Twitter Arianna Skibell @ariannaskibell   Follow us

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