Congress passes debt limit bill, includes provisions that will stall climate and clean energy deployment
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, the Senate passed H.R. 3746, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which includes changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and transmission provisions that threaten to delay critical clean energy infrastructure deployment. The bill now heads to President Biden’s desk for signature.
“We appreciate that the legislation protects key climate investments in the Inflation Reduction Act, which are important to reduce carbon emissions throughout our economy. To take full advantage of these historic investments, we need to construct significant infrastructure. However, we are disappointed by provisions of the bill that do little to address the underlying challenges around clean energy deployment and permitting and may in fact make this necessary deployment more difficult,” said Evan Chapman, U.S. Federal Policy Director at Clean Air Task Force (CATF).
“The legislation includes language that significantly alters portions of NEPA, our nation’s bedrock environmental protection law, without the critical public input and fact-gathering necessary to understand the impacts of these changes. This language will likely lead to further delays and litigation. The legislation also requires a study on transmission needs that would only serve to validate what has long been known about the benefits of building more interregional transmission capacity, threatening to stall meaningful transmission reform in the meantime.
“Together, the provisions in this legislation will complicate the much-needed buildout of clean energy infrastructure at a time when we need to be ramping it up. We look forward to working with policymakers and the Biden administration to thoughtfully identify and address the barriers to clean energy deployment.”
Press Contact
Samantha Sadowski, Communications Manager, U.S., ssadowski@catf.us, +1 202-440-1717
About Clean Air Task Force
Clean Air Task Force (CATF) is a global nonprofit organization working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalyzing the rapid development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. With 25 years of internationally recognized expertise on climate policy and a fierce commitment to exploring all potential solutions, CATF is a pragmatic, non-ideological advocacy group with the bold ideas needed to address climate change. CATF has offices in Boston, Washington D.C., and Brussels, with staff working virtually around the world. Visit catf.us and follow @cleanaircatf.
