A year and a half after the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis was formed in the U.S. House, the Democratic majority’s climate policy roadmap has been released. Solving the Climate Crisis is a wide-ranging and detailed report that targets oil and natural gas as well as almost every other industry. The committee’s formation attracted considerable media attention as a major step taken by the incoming majority following the 2018 midterm landslide. Interest was also fueled around the exclusion of freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from the committee following her election as a prominent climate champion and co-author of the Green New Deal (GND). Given the fanfare last year, the report barely registered in the media with the announcement just a few days before the Fourth of July, a time when Washington, D.C. is empty and most people are focused on holiday plans. Despite the committee not taking the opportunity for a more pronounced rollout, the 538-page proposal should still be taken seriously and is worth examining.
Whereas the GND was a compass pointing the direction, this report is a roadmap for the Democrats’ ultimate destination. The GND was sweeping in vision yet mostly descriptive in nature. In contrast, the Select Committee’s report puts meat on the bones by offering several specific policies to enact. If Democrats win the majority in both chambers of Congress and the presidency in November, it provides an action plan to implement on Day One. Republicans on the committee abstained from contributing to the report. The document is built around 12 pillars that span our nation’s economy, including energy production, transportation, finance, manufacturing, health care, agriculture, recreation, housing and education, with a whopping 718 policy recommendations. The report contains 82 policy recommendations targeting oil and natural gas directly or indirectly, or 11% of all recommendations. Many are proposals to reinstate Obama-era regulations by making them permanent through legislative action. Most of the other recommendations cite bills already introduced in Congress that have been debated in oversight hearings since January 2019. These are policies the House majority has been vetting and readying for votes. The following are some of the most significant recommendations related to oil and natural gas with page references to provide quick access to additional details. Our full review of all the industry-specific provisions is available on our website. Air quality
Public Lands
Wildlife
Pipelines
Tax and Finance
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