Clean energy interests bolstered by election results
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Some Democrats are promising to push for more clean energy to help tackle rising energy costs when they take control of Congress in January, though President Donald Trump says he will use his veto power aggressively.
With new majorities in the House and Senate after last week’s midterms, Democrats can set an agenda boosting clean energy and addressing climate change. While those are traditionally core priorities of the party, climate was not a central topic in this election cycle.
Democrats can begin investigations and hold hearings into climate policy rollbacks and elimination of green energy grants by the Republican administration, potentially trying to undo some changes and restore renewable energy incentives.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said Trump’s clean energy attacks drove up prices for taxpayers. He said Democrats will “work every angle to lower consumers’ energy costs, and we will demand accountability for the massive corruption wrought by Trump’s fossil-fuel donors.”
American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet said everybody who is trying to build clean energy “feels bolstered.”
Enacting major changes would require Republican support because Democrats will lack the numbers to override presidential vetoes. Even then, lower energy bills are not guaranteed because prices also depend on fuel costs, demand and the expense of maintaining the electric grid.
“The wins give Democrats more leverage over spending and more political power to advance a coherent agenda; the question is whether they’ll use that power effectively,” said Lisa Sachs, director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. “The vote was for affordability and opportunity. Democrats now need to be clear about which policies deliver them.”
Trump said after Tuesday’s election that Democrats will send over “things that are insane” and he will veto them, speaking generally about legislation. But in the comments to Fox News, he predicted that “after a couple of months of vetoes,” he and Democrats will find ways to work together.
The White House said in a statement Wednesday that Trump is “committed to unleashing reliable, affordable, and secure energy sources to lower prices, strengthen our grid, and protect our national security, and is willing to work with anyone to accomplish this.”
Trump promised to lower energy prices. Instead, his war with Iran and other policies increased the price of gasoline, diesel and electricity. At the same time, the administration canceled many clean energy projects and grants and slowed clean energy permitting.
Trump particularly dislikes offshore wind. Developer Orsted said Thursday that Revolution Wind, a large wind farm in federal waters off Rhode Island, has started operating commercially.
Will the president change his tune on green energy? That’s doubtful, said former Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., co-chair of the government relations practice at ArentFox Schiff.
“He is likely to keep pushing his energy issues, and I think he will be forced to give some room for a new Congress to recreate a different strategy that will add clean energy,” Dorgan said in an email.
Trump promotes expanding production of oil, natural gas and coal, which cause climate change, because he argues that would give the U.S. the lowest-cost electricity. Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry’s top lobbying group, said that as voters have changed the balance of political power in Washington, “the affordability message is unmistakable.”
Sommers said in a statement there is a real opportunity for bipartisan cooperation to reduce costs and strengthen the economy, starting with an energy permitting reform proposal announced in September. The Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote on the legislation, which is aimed at shortening the timeline to get big energy projects started.
Ife Kilimanjaro, executive director of the U.S. Climate Action Network, said Democrats should reject that proposal and use their stronger position to pass legislation that actually builds out much-needed clean energy.
The administration has reshaped the Environmental Protection Agency, reversing pollution limits as it promotes fossil fuels.
Clear Street energy transition analyst Tim Moore said he expects Democrats to investigate the climate and environmental rollbacks, in an effort to block some from taking effect. Democrats could also try amending the Clean Air Act to cut carbon pollution and push back against EPA budget cuts, he added.
Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., said he is cautiously optimistic some Republicans will now seek to differentiate themselves from Trump and back pro-environmental policies. But without Republican support, Democrats’ more ambitious bills will largely lay out their agenda for 2028, he added.