Leading lawmakers working to pass reforms in Congress expressed optimism Wednesday that some legislation would cross the finish line by the end of the year, but White House officials were tepid about Democrats’ key demands as part of the process.
The leaders of the Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-Va.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D.R.I.), are aiming to reach an agreement with other top lawmakers this summer.
But during the POLITICO Energy Summit in Washington, Capito and the White House discussed the challenges of negotiations as President Donald Trump continues to express deep hostility to renewable energy projects and his administration’s approvals have been slow.
“It’s going to be very difficult to bring even a very good bill to the caucus and say, ‘We should trust this administration with this good bill for a couple more years, and they’re going to do it faithfully,'” Whitehouse said.
“We need a significant number of projects in motion for us to feel comfortable that the enabling environment and administration for reform will be very false and harmful,” he said. “It’s inevitable and I think everyone understands that.”
Capito acknowledged that the Trump administration has not been as cooperative as possible when it comes to permitting reforms, including when the Interior Department tried to halt construction on some offshore wind projects.
The administration’s decision not to appeal adverse rulings against those projects and to bring forward the permitting of some solar projects on public lands is “a good sign,” Capito said. “We’re working with the administration to make sure (Trump) understands that this is a legacy issue for this president.”
Capito said the Biden administration’s actions on fossil fuels, such as canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, and President Trump’s move on clean energy are rallying many industries and their allies to embrace reform.
“It’s a common pain, and I think that’s what brings us together,” she said.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-Va.) will speak Wednesday at POLITICO’s Energy Summit in Washington. |Craig Hudson, POLITICO
She said Capito and others are working to persuade the president to “quell” his anti-clean energy efforts in order to move reforms forward.
“If you continue to postpone certain projects and step up to scale, Mr. President, on certain projects, we will miss out on great opportunities,” Capito said, paraphrasing a message to the White House.
Administration officials said they were engaged in negotiations and hoped for an agreement. At the same time, Jarrod Agen, executive director of the White House National Energy Control Council, appeared less conciliatory towards Democrats on Wednesday.
“We are not going to give away bad projects at the expense of good projects,” Ajan said at the summit.
Ajan placed the onus on Democrats to lift their opposition to the natural gas pipeline project, pointing to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s controversial constitutional block on the pipeline project.
“If Democrats want to actually get projects done and lower energy prices for residents, they should get a deal done,” Ajan said. “They’re the ones blocking the permit because they’re ignoring common sense.”
house, transmission
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) spoke with POLITICO’s Josh Siegel on Wednesday at POLITICO’s Energy Summit in Washington. |Craig Hudson, POLITICO
Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-Kentucky), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, also expressed a strong desire to approve the reform. He met with key Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday and said staff from both parties were working on the issue.
But Guthrie stressed that the House has its own priorities and will not accept policies that take away transmission authority from state and local officials. The power grid is a key element in the negotiations, with Democrats specifically wanting to build more power lines to carry clean energy from rural areas to populated areas.
“We think the idea that you can create a Federal Transmission Commission (at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) and be able to decide where the transmission lines go is a step too far,” Guthrie said. “Even if it worked, that would stall everything. And we still think local utilities should have the ability to make decisions.”
Last year, the House passed House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman’s (R-Arkansas) SPEED Act, which overhauls the National Environmental Policy Act process. Guthrie recently held a hearing on grid reform and spoke about bipartisan compromise.
Guthrie said Wednesday that he can’t rely on winter storms, and also criticized wind and solar energy. “When you want it to work, it doesn’t work,” the speaker said, repeating a common talking point among Republicans.
Still, he acknowledged that allowing reforms would need to include policies regarding these energy sources. “We need to be confident,” Guthrie said.
“I fully understand that if we are to create a broad, bipartisan, comprehensive bill, we need to look at everything from where the energy source comes from to the generation to how it gets to the people who use it.”
James Bikales contributed to this report.
