2022 was full of historic legislative accomplishments on climate policy. 2023 is unlikely to achieve the same significance, though the changing climate demands more of the same.
An article by Maxine Joselow for the Washington Post previews the year to come in a critical moment for U.S. climate policy.
Before previewing the coming year, Joselow sets the stage with a recap of a momentous year in U.S. climate policy, which included a slew of unprecedented achievements, headlined by the adoption of the nation’s largest ever climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act.
As for what to watch in 2023, Joselow predicts the following, with more detail included in the sources article below:
- Climate policy action will shift from the federal government to the states with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives and democrats with new trifectas in state governments. States that could potentially enact broad climate policies in 2023 include Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Minnesota, according to the article.
- Federal agencies will struggle to enact portions of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Examples from the Treasury Department, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Energy Department are cited. Unmentioned is a controversial decision by the Government Accountability Office to enforce a memo by the Federal Highway Administration as a rule.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will “race” to finalize critical climate rules, such as a “self-imposed March deadline for proposing new greenhouse gas rules for power plants.”
More detail on each of these three trends can be found in the source article below.
FULL STORY: 3 trends to watch in U.S. climate policy in 2023
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