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WASHINGTON: Huge pandemic relief and spending bill includes billions of dollars to promote clean energy, such as wind and solar power, while dramatically reducing the use of powerful refrigerants in air conditioners and refrigerators over time which are considered one of the main drivers of global warming.
The energy and climate provisions, backed by lawmakers from both parties, were hailed as the most important climate change law in at least a decade.
“Republicans and Democrats are working together to protect the environment through innovation,” said Senator John Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Public Works and Environment Committee.
“This landmark agreement includes three separate laws that will significantly reduce greenhouse gases,” Barrasso said, citing measures that promote technologies to “capture” and store carbon dioxide produced by power plants and manufacturing; reduce diesel emissions in buses and other vehicles; and authorize a 15-year reduction in hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, which are used in everything from cars to air conditioners. HFCs are considered one of the main drivers of global warming and are under attack around the world.
“These three measures will protect our air while keeping costs low to the American people,” Barrasso said.
The expanding legislation also extends tax credits for solar and wind power, which are a key part of President-elect Joe Biden’s ambitious plan to generate 100% “clean electricity” by 2035.
Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the environmental panel, said the bill would reduce pollution from school buses, air conditioners, refrigerators and more, while creating thousands of American jobs and helping “save our planet. of the climate crisis “. ‘
“Make no mistake,” he said, the new legislation “will soon be one of the most important climate solutions to be passed in Congress to date.”
The bill won praise across the political spectrum as environmental groups and major business organizations praised a years-long agreement.
“While much remains to be done” to address climate change, bipartisan agreement “intensifies clean energy research and development programs, strengthens energy efficiency, reauthorizes a critical EPA program to reduce diesel pollution, advances a DOE’s new program to transition “to electric school buses … and rebukes (President Donald) Trump’s latest attempts to cut environmental programs across the board,” said Matthew Davis, legislative director of the League of Voters for the conservation.
Marty Durbin, Senior Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, called the package, the first major energy bill in more than a decade, “truly historic” and one of the most important steps Congress has ever taken to address change. climate.
“This package demonstrates the progress that is possible when businesses, environmental groups, workers, and legislators work together to find solutions to difficult problems,” said Durbin. The bill will not only address climate change, but will also “promote American technology leadership and foster continued economic growth,” Durbin said.
The dramatic, albeit gradual, reduction of HFCs in particular “will bring significant climate relief relatively quickly,” said Matt Casale, director of environmental campaigns for the US Public Interest Research Group. He called the bill ” a step forward “in a variety of areas that will serve as pillars for the incoming Biden administration.
Much of the comprehensive energy package, long promoted as a “down payment” to combat climate change, was agreed to earlier this year, but the package fell apart in March due to a dispute among Senate Republicans over the disposal of HFCs.
Carper and Senator John Kennedy lobbied for a measure they said would give US companies the certainty they need to produce “next generation” refrigerants as an alternative to HFCs. Both men represent states that are home to companies that produce alternative refrigerants.
The Kennedy-Carper amendment was supported by dozens of senators, including 17 Republican co-sponsors. But the amendment was rejected by the Senate Republican leadership, including Barrasso and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Barrasso said he is concerned that the measure could add a layer of new federal rules to a mosaic of current or future state rules regarding HFCs. He called for language that ensures states don’t impose stricter requirements than the federal rule. In the end, lawmakers agreed to prevent state and local governments from regulating HFCs for at least five years.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican who chairs the Senate Energy Committee, said the energy package “will foster innovation across the board in a range of technologies that are critical to our energy and national security, our economic competitiveness. long-term and protecting our environment. ”
In a separate development, the bill also includes nearly $ 10 billion to reauthorize the Water Resources Development Act to pay for flood control, environmental restoration, coastal protection, port improvements, and other projects.
