Historic Climate Legislation Included in COVID Relief Spending Deal

The $900 billion COVID relief bill along with a $1.4 trillion omnibus bill allowed for the inclusion of unrelated legislation and funding for 2021, from border wall spending to phasing-out some of the most potent greenhouse gas pollutants.

3 minute read

December 23, 2020, 11:00 AM PST

By Irvin Dawid


On Monday night, Congress approved one of the largest spending bills in its history, the $2.3 billion Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (H.R. 133) which included the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill (see "related" Planetizen posts below).

The larger part of the spending package is "a $1.4 trillion omnibus bill based on a 2019 spending deal, which consists of $740.5 billion in defense spending and $664.5 billion for domestic programs," writes Niv Elis for The Hill (source article).

While the COVID-19 relief bill focuses on extending unemployment, providing stimulus checks and boosting small businesses, the omnibus includes a broader set of policy issues, such as transportation, agriculture, health, homeland security and foreign operations.

The omnibus also included $1.375 billion for 56 miles of President Trump’s border wall, an issue that has become a central obstacle in passing spending legislation during his presidency.

Ellis adds that the omnibus includes "energy legislation that would restrict the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a greenhouse gas common in air conditioners. It is the first significant piece of climate legislation in over a decade."

The phase-down of the production of HFC's was one of three provisions included in bipartisan environmental innovation legislation that was passed by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW).

“Republicans and Democrats are working together to protect the environment through innovation,” said the chairman, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo, reported Matthew Daly for the Associated Press on the energy and climate provisions in the omnibus part of H.R. 133.

“This is the most significant greenhouse gas reduction bill to ever pass Congress and it won’t raise costs for American families," Barrasso stated in the committee's press release on Tuesday that describes the three environmental components of the legislation:

In addition, the omnibus also included "$35 billion in spending on wind, solar and other clean power sources," reports Coral Davenport for The New York Times.

They amount to a rare party rebuke to Mr. Trump on the issue of global warming, after he spent the past four years mocking and systematically rolling back every major climate change rule. The comity may also signal that while President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is unlikely to secure his full climate plan, he may be able to make some progress in curbing global warming.

"How did this remarkable triumph come about?" asks Jonathan Chait of New York Magazine.

The larger lesson here is that, in the modern era, constructive legislation is still possible — as long as the issue stays below the radar.

If these climate provisions had not been thrown into a coronavirus-relief bill and Joe Biden had tried to pass the exact same policies two months from now, right-wing media would be aflame with denunciations of his “Green New Deal.”

But wait! H.R. 133 still has to be signed by President Trump. Elis reports on Tuesday night that Trump has blasted the historic spending bill, so stay tuned.

Hat tips to Jim Stewart and David McCoard.

Related in Planetizen:

Monday, December 21, 2020 in The Hill

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