Johnson likely to sustain GOP attack on climate action amid permit ... - S&P Global

Johnson likely to sustain GOP attack on climate action amid permit reform push | S&P Global Commodity Insights

The newly elected speaker of the US House of Representatives appears likely to reinforce Republican efforts to roll back Biden administration climate policies and support domestic fossil fuel production, while some Democrats and Republicans look for an opening to address permit reform by the end of the year.

Not registered?

Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience.

The House elected Representative Mike Johnson, Republican-Louisiana, as speaker on Oct. 25, elevating a lawmaker who has voiced skepticism of mainstream climate science and hails from a state with a substantial fossil fuel industry. The vote came after the party's hardline conservative wing mounted a successful effort in early October to remove prior speaker Kevin McCarthy, Republican-California, from the leadership role.

Johnson's home state was the third biggest producer of dry natural gas in the US for 2022, and its coastal waters supply oil from federal offshore leases. The oil and gas industry gave $84,350 to Johnson's campaign committee in the 2021-22 House election cycle, the second biggest group by spending after retired donors, according to independent research firm Open Secrets.

Speaking at an Oct. 25 early-evening Politico event on grid reliability, Representative Scott Peters, Democrat-California, chair of the new Democratic Coalition's Climate Change and Clean Energy Task Force, said that, despite Johnson's antipathy toward climate change, he expected action on permit reform to come up before the end of the year.

Notably, Peters, who also serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is floating draft legislation that seeks to update the National Environmental Policy Act to speed environmental siting reviews, action he says Republicans may be willing to support.

Peters said NEPA is a bit of a relic from the 1970s and needs to be updated to address climate change and the energy transition. He also believes there will be room to advance his transmission legislation -- the Big Wires Act -- to strengthen the grid and impel the use of more clean energy as part of permitting reform.

In meetings ahead of the speaker vote, Peters said several high-level Republicans said they were willing to consider supporting the transmission measure, and would circle back with him on the legislation once the speakership was sorted out.

Permitting reform

Meanwhile, Representative Bob Latta, Republican-Ohio, who chairs the House energy committee's panel on communications and technology, told the audience at the event that followed the vote that permitting reform is something Congress "absolutely needs to work forward on."

He added that no business is against regulations, but they want federal permitting rules that provide certainty.

"We can't have a situation in this country when you put in for a permit ... and years go by and you have to start all over," Latta said.

Latta said the passage of 12 nuclear power bills earlier this week by the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- including a bill he sponsored -- was a good sign that the House is ready to move ahead on legislation to address energy and grid issues and permitting.

Despite major environmental groups' criticisms, conservative clean energy advocates noted that Johnson has support from leading Republicans overseeing energy and environmental issues. Those supporters include House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington and Conservative Climate Caucus Chairman John Curtis of Utah.

However, most of those issues will likely include Republicans' ongoing climate repeal effort. Indeed, the GOP-majority House, ahead of Johnson's ascent to speaker, has already been working this Congress to undo key climate and clean energy policies backed by Democrats, including major portions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The bill contained an estimated $369 billion in climate and energy spending, largely in the form of tax incentives.

House Republicans have also challenged Biden administration policies on oil and gas leasing of federal lands and waters, a cause Johnson will likely continue to back in his new role.

But Republican House proposals to repeal sections of the IRA and other Biden energy and climate policies have repeatedly faced opposition from the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House, dooming their chances of enactment.

Johnson's office did not immediately respond to a call about his climate and energy stance or plans on the issues as speaker.

Budget matters

In an Oct. 23 letter to colleagues, Johnson proposed passing several annual appropriations bills for fiscal-year 2024 before a continuing resolution to fund the federal government expires Nov. 17. One of the House's first orders of business under Johnson was consideration of the FY 2024 energy and water appropriations package.

If another stopgap funding measure is needed, Johnson suggested legislation that lasts through either Jan. 15 or April 15 of 2024 "to ensure the Senate cannot jam the House with a Christmas omnibus."

Avoiding a government shutdown would better allow federal agencies to move ahead on key administration policies, including the implementation of the IRA. But the fate of climate and energy policy in the House under Johnson remains a question.

S&P Global Commodity Insights reporter Molly Christian produces content for distribution on S&P Capital IQ Pro.