The House’s largest conservative caucus wants Speaker Kevin McCarthy to take another stab at rolling back billions in clean energy spending approved by Democrats while giving a leg up to fossil fuels aimed at lowering energy prices.
The House Republican Study Committee unveiled a budget proposal of its own on Wednesday to emphasize the group’s priorities to leadership ahead of what are expected to be contentious negotiations between House Republicans and Senate Democrats to fund the federal government and avert a shutdown.
The package comes on the heels of a debt-limit fight between President Biden and Mr. McCarthy that produced a deal to narrowly avoid a U.S. default, in addition to a separate McCarthy-endorsed House GOP tax bill that includes billions in tax cuts.
The Republican Study Committee budget plan, previewed by The Washington Times, includes all of House Republicans’ marquee HR 1 energy package that was passed earlier this year mostly along party lines but died in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The package centered on bolstering oil and natural gas production; fast-tracking the permitting process for new energy projects of all forms; increasing domestic critical mineral mining; and repealing clean energy spending in Democrats’ tax-and-climate spending law known as the Inflation Reduction Act, including a methane emission program for the oil and gas sector, and slashing EPA funds.
“Tapping our domestic energy resources will reduce inflation, promote job creation, and decrease dependence on foreign oil, both at home and for our allies around the world,” a summary of the energy provisions states.
The budget proposal from the Republican Study Committee, consisting of the majority of House Republicans at more than 150 members, also includes dozens of other standalone energy-related measures from GOP lawmakers that would:
• Repeal green energy tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act.
• Reverse Mr. Biden’s halt on oil drilling in arctic Alaska near the state’s Willow oil project.
• Increase oil and gas leasing on federal lands and in federal waters.
• Block proposed rules for corporations to disclose climate risks.
• Require the Interior Department to immediately greenlight certain drilling permits regardless of lawsuits.
• Require congressional approval to prohibit or delay fossil fuel or critical mineral production on federal lands.
• Increase liquefied natural gas exports by rolling back approval requirements.
• Authorize the completion of the Keystone XL oil pipeline blocked by Mr. Biden.
• Scuttle Mr. Biden’s Waters of the United States rule that expands federal environmental protections over small waterways like streams and wetlands.
• Prohibit federal money from being used to comply with the Paris climate agreement.
• Prohibit federal funds for “loss and damage” payments to poorer countries impacted by climate change under a U.N.-led initiative.
• Block the creation of a carbon tax to penalize fossil fuel producers for emissions.
• Roll back Mr. Biden’s increased vehicle emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks.
It was not clear how much of the roughly $370 billion of clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act the proposal would claw back. Republican leaders initially sought to repeal some of the spending as part of debt-limit negotiations but were ultimately unsuccessful.
In their separate tax-cut plan, House Republicans proposed rescinding $216 billion of the tranche, which would include tax credits on electric vehicles.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.