House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and his allies presented the first plank of an agenda to address climate change Wednesday, focusing on using trees and technology to capture carbon emissions.
The Republicans presented four bills as part of their proposal, a mix of new and old legislation that has already been introduced.
“The one thing that unites us all as Americans is we do want a cleaner, safer, and healthier environment,” McCarthy said in a briefing for reporters. “The good news is in America, the ingenuity we have had, when we unshackle that, we are able to make that all happen.”
The carbon capture package includes a bill, introduced Wednesday, for the United States to work toward a global goal of planting a trillion trees. It also features an expansion of a tax break approved by Congress in 2018 and signed by President Trump for companies that use carbon capture technology to trap carbon from fossil fuel or industrial plants. The new bill would make the so-called 45Q tax credit permanent, increasing the amount paid to companies and lowering the threshold of captured carbon to qualify for it.
Another bill looks to boost research, development, and deployment of carbon capture technology for natural gas plants.
“We have chosen to put a price on carbon, but doing it through incentives and actually doubling down on that,” said Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana, the top Republican on the House select climate committee. He was contrasting the Republican preference for tax subsidies as opposed to a broader carbon tax that economists and many Democrats say would be needed to encourage widespread innovation away from fossil fuels.
“We’ve got to move forward in a fact-based, realistic approach, as opposed to something that may be more emotional,” Graves said.
Carbon capture, in general, is a concept supported by Republicans and Democrats. But current technology is expensive and not widespread.
Democrats view Republicans’ pitch for carbon capture, and its broader focus on boosting clean energy technology, as insufficient and potential cover for allowing the continued use of fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change. The Republican agenda paves the way for more fossil fuel use.
“It’s all about carbon capture,” said Republican Rep. David McKinley of West Virginia. “If we don’t achieve that around the world, we are still going to have droughts, wildfires, and our coastal communities are still going to be under.”
Republicans Wednesday said their agenda would not include a carbon tax or clean energy mandate, in an attempt to contrast with Democratic proposals, such as the “Green New Deal,” that take a more muscular government-led approach to the problem.
“We are trying to take a more paternal, positive approach to a problem rather than a punitive approach,” said Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio.
Their “clean energy innovation” agenda is designed to provide a response to polling showing vulnerability of Republicans among young and suburban voters concerned about the environment and climate change.
Other parts of the legislative package include measures curbing plastic waste, exporting natural gas, and promoting “resilience” or adaptation to sea-level rise and other effects of climate change.
“These are good, pro-growth consumer bills that can become law this year,” said Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
