Historic Climate Legislation Included in COVID Relief Spending Deal

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:

• "The Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act to promote carbon capture technologies;
• "The reauthorization of the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) program; and
• "The American Manufacturing and Innovation (AIM) Act, which would implement a 15-year phasedown of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) at a national level for the first time, administered by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."

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.