First Committee Chair Backs Green New Deal

December 05, 2018

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by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico's Morning Energy) Rep. Nydia Velázquez , the presumptive incoming chairwoman of the Small Business Committee, became the latest House Democrat to back the Green New Deal on Tuesday. "We cannot delay when it comes to addressing this existential threat to our planet," she tweeted. "Water-adjacent cities, especially like New York, cannot stand by as sea levels rise!" Nineteen House Democrats have now championed the concept pushed by Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Sunrise Movement.

INSLEE TAKES AIM AT MANCHIN: Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is adding his voice to those opposing West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin's potential elevation to the top Democratic spot on the Energy and Natural Resource Committee. The Guardian reports Inslee is launching a petition demanding Schumer block the move. In a tweet Tuesday, Inslee wrote, "Our party must be wholly committed to ending America's dependence on fossil fuels. Manchin literally shot climate legislation in one of his campaign ads." Inslee is seen as a potential 2020 Democratic candidate for president, and has not ruled out a bid. READ MORE

Schumer, Pelosi want climate-change measures in any infrastructure deal with Trump (Washington Post)

Chuck Schumer: No deal on infrastructure without addressing climate change (Washington Post)

'THINK BIGGER': (Politico's Morning Energy)

Senate braces for 'Green New Deal' fervor (E&E News)

Democrats get on board with Manchin for energy committee post (Politico)

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: ME caught up with Sen. Martin Heinrich following votes Thursday and he urged his party to think more boldly about addressing climate change. "We've been relatively incremental in our approach to those things," he said. "Some of that has been really important — we have built huge industries in solar and wind — but it's not enough to meet the scale of the problems we're seeing right now, so we need to think bigger yet again." He praised backers of the Green New Deal for kicking off a "fantastic conversation" and stressed the need for an approach that makes "sure that the benefits flow to the people who need it the most, not the people who already have theirs." He declined to address whether he had concerns about Manchin's potential promotion on the Energy Committee. READ MORE

Excerpts from E&E News: Inhofe (Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.)) decried efforts by the Obama administration to "green" the military as an expensive detour from ensuring national security.

"We ended up using the military to carry out an environmental agenda, which they did, they did successfully, in terms of distractions," he said. "And so we ended up with billions of dollars in things like the green military and all these things, and we can't allow that to take place because we have enough problems right now. Right now we're in the budget fight for the military."

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who is expected to take the gavel of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said the Democratic enthusiasm on climate change would be felt primarily on the Environment and Public Works Committee, on which he also serves.

But Wicker, whose role on Commerce will give him some jurisdiction over federal fuel economy standards, cast doubt yesterday on established climate science, adding that French protests over the country's new motor fuel taxes should be "instructive" to anyone pushing for comprehensive legislation to address climate change.

"I'm just saying I think a lot of Americans may give lip service to doing something because it's been hammered into their heads that there is, in fact, something that can be done to reverse temperature rises," Wicker said. "But when it's translated into reality and you can't drive your car because gas is $7 a gallon, I think the general public in most of the western democracies is going to rise up and revolt."

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Cassidy (Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.)) has also been studying the writings of Oren Cass, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute who has criticized the conservative push to enact a carbon tax.

"Let's just stick it to the American family — drive up costs, drive jobs overseas, hit 'em this way and that way and, by the way, be counterproductive for global greenhouse gas emissions," he said of Democrats' carbon pricing plans. "That's craziness. We're absolutely going to push back on that."

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Inhofe also indicated that he would not dismiss climate-friendly policies for the military out of hand, saying he's receptive to measures that boost military readiness even if he disagrees with the underlying science on man-made contribution to climate change.

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Under fire from environmentalists, Manchin (Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)) yesterday surprised the Senate by voting against ending debate on the nomination of Bernard McNamee to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (E&E News PM, Dec. 5).

Although he supported McNamee's nomination in committee, Manchin said in a statement last night that he changed his mind after viewing a video of controversial comments the former Energy Department official made questioning climate change.

Manchin's about-face marked the clearest sign yet that he may end up as the ranking member on Energy and Natural Resources, a position expected to be open in the next Congress.

Although the current top Democrat on the ENR Committee, Maria Cantwell of Washington, has not announced her intentions, she is widely expected to assume the ranking member position on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee next year, given that the panel has jurisdiction over key economic sectors in her state.

The three next most senior members of the minority on the panel — Oregon's Ron Wyden, Vermont independent Bernie Sanders and Michigan's Debbie Stabenow — have all indicated they plan to remain as ranking members on other committees. If they stay put, Manchin would be eligible to claim the ranking member slot on Energy.

Environmentalists have pressed Sanders and Stabenow to deny Manchin the committee position by claiming it for themselves.

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Stabenow told E&E News this week that she intends to stay as the top Democrat on the Agriculture Committee even if the farm bill is completed during the lame-duck session.

"There's a lot more to do, including climate change," she said, citing additional work on forestry and conservation she plans to push. "It's about holding carbon in the ground, holding in the trees."

Wyden, who will remain as the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, said this week that the recent volume of the National Climate Assessment is a "wake-up call" that will force a discussion on the tax-writing panel on revising the tax code on energy in favor of cleaner sources (E&E Daily, Dec. 5).

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Although major climate legislation won't pass the Republican Senate, a Democratic House could mean more work gets done on climate through appropriations carve-outs and a handful of bipartisan programs, such as carbon capture research at the Department of Energy.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member Tom Carper (D-Del.) suggested the energy on the House side might push the whole Congress to take smaller steps to address climate change.

His priority right now, for instance, is working out a compromise on the Trump administration's proposed freeze of fuel economy standards (see related story).

"The one that's staring us right in the face is mobile sources. It's the biggest source of emissions," said Carper, who serves alongside EPW Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). READ MORE