A significant shift in energy policy is in store with Democrats retaking the majority in the next Congress.
asserted
Democrats → retake → Congress
Democrats are set to try to reverse the Republican agenda of the past two years, which was to cut funding for wind and solar power while deregulating fossil fuel industries.
asserted
which → set → industries
Recommended Stories
Although there is shared interest between the parties in boosting nuclear power and geothermal, as well as reforming permitting, the Democratic majorities will bring a new set of priorities to Congress overall.
asserted
majorities → be → Congress
The No. 1 issue: permitting reform
Democrats have been broadly supportive of passing legislation to streamline the federal permitting process, making it easier to build power lines, highways, and other essential infrastructure.
asserted
it → pass → lines
Many within the party view it as essential to connecting wind and solar to the grid.
asserted
Many → view → grid
But Democrats have been hesitant to back bipartisan legislation because they worry that the Trump administration would not fairly implement changes to the permitting system and would continue to block renewable energy projects.
asserted
administration → back → projects
Two key Senate Democrats struck a deal with Republicans in late September to introduce the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, or BAAJA.
asserted
Democrats → strike → Act
The bill includes several key Democratic priorities for building out clean energy projects, including making it easier to construct and upgrade transmission infrastructure, forcing data center developers to pay for the energy and transmission infrastructure needed for their operations, and providing permitting certainty for all energy projects.
asserted
it → include → projects
“I personally hope that we pass the Senate package in the lame duck,” Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), who sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee and acts as the Climate Task Force chair of the New Democrat Coalition, told the Washington Examiner.
asserted
who → hope → Examiner
Peters said he believes that the legislation would improve affordability across the United States, aid the development of clean energy, and increase grid reliability.
asserted
legislation → say → reliability
“I think it will resolve a lot of the issues that have been dogging us for a long time around energy,” he said.
asserted
he → think → energy
The bill is set to be put to its first vote in the Senate Nov. 9.
asserted
bill → set → Senate
If it passes, the House would then consider it.
asserted
House → pass → it
Not all House Democrats are in favor of moving on the bill immediately after the election and would like to pick up the issue in the next Congress, criticizing changes to environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act.
asserted
Democrats → move → Act
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), the ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee, has repeatedly called for Democrats to wait on permitting negotiations.
asserted
Democrats → call → negotiations
“It will be a priority,” Huffman told the Washington Examiner in October.
asserted
Huffman → tell → October
“But it will be thoughtful and responsible permitting reform that includes the grid improvements and clean energy buildout, but also protects our natural environment in appropriate ways and doesn’t throw tribes and front-line communities under the bus.”
asserted
that → include → bus
Many policy experts have said that permitting reform is crucial to the success of other energy measures.
Xan Fishman, executive vice president for energy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, described permitting reform as the “great enabler.”
asserted
Fishman → say → enabler
“Any other kind of good energy policy that you might want to pass — whether it’s pure energy focused or whether it’s, you know, looking at the environmental outcomes of energy — Any of those really do require … permitting to have happened first,” he said.
uncertain
he → want → those
Revisiting clean energy and electric vehicle tax credits
Another top priority for Democrats in the next Congress will be reintroducing federal tax credits for clean energy resources and electric vehicles that the GOP scrapped last year.
asserted
GOP → revisit → that
Democrats implemented massive spending on clean energy with the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which was the most significant climate-related bill in U.S. history in terms of spending on clean energy.
asserted
which → implement → energy
The IRA expanded and established a broad set of tax credits for renewable energy resources, energy efficiency technologies, and carbon capture and storage projects, as well as electric vehicles.
asserted
IRA → expand → resources
Republicans cut many of these subsidies just three years later through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
asserted
Republicans → cut → Act
The bill, signed into law last summer, ended incentives for wind and solar projects by the end of 2027.
asserted
bill → sign → 2027
It also eliminated a $7,500 credit for consumers purchasing electric vehicles.
asserted
It → eliminate → vehicles
Huffman told the Washington Examiner that he’d “love to see” those subsidies revisited, particularly those for electric vehicles.
asserted
subsidies → tell → vehicles
But he said that passing any bill reintroducing those subsidies would be an uphill battle.
asserted
passing → say → subsidies
“I’m interested in doing whatever I can, but I also know who’s in the White House for the next two years.
asserted
who → ’m → years
…I’m pretty clear-eyed about that,” Huffman said.
asserted
Huffman → ’m → that
Fishman is skeptical that reinstating the credits will gain much traction, given how politicized the subsidies had become.
asserted
subsidies → reinstate → traction
“Obviously a tax credit has an affordability hook,” he said.
asserted
he → have → hook
“So, I do think some will push for that, but I don’t know — I don’t know that it’ll find consensus.”
asserted
it → think → consensus
Some Democrats, however, have indicated that there is more support for clean energy tax credits across the aisle than one might expect.
uncertain
one → indicate → aisle
Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) pointed out that last year, nearly two dozen Republicans signed a letter supporting keeping the subsidies in place, even though they ultimately voted in favor of cutting them.
asserted
they → point → them
“I think there is bipartisan support for restoring the credits, particularly once Donald Trump’s power over the Republican Party diminishes,” he said, later adding that even if some Republicans in Congress won’t admit their support publicly, “they certainly talk about it privately.”
asserted
they → think → it
Even before the midterm elections, Republicans were bracing for Democratic-led investigations into the Trump administration if the majority flipped in either chamber.
asserted
majority → brace → chamber
In September, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said the caucus was preparing a sweeping oversight agenda, focusing on possible corruption within the administration, particularly as the fossil fuel industry has benefited heavily from Trump’s second presidency.
asserted
industry → say → presidency
Huffman told the Washington Examiner that an “enormous amount of oversight and investigation work” has to be done under a Democratic majority, saying “there’s no avoiding it.”
asserted
amount → tell → it
“Some of the most controversial corruption schemes have taken place within the jurisdiction of this committee,” he said, referring to the Natural Resources Committee.
asserted
he → take → Committee
Huffman, in particular, has already begun investigating, requesting records from corporate sponsors of the Freedom 250 celebrations this year regarding donations, access to federal officials, and other benefits.
asserted
Huffman → begin → officials
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
