U.S. federal spending bill includes funding to combat climate change
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[December 22, 2020]
(Reuters) - The bill providing
coronavirus aid and funding the U.S. government that is expected to be
approved on Monday contains measures to address climate change,
including limiting the use of a potent greenhouse gas in refrigerants
and extending tax incentives for wind and solar energy.
The bill, if passed, would mark the first time in 13 years that Congress
used energy policy to tackle global warming - an issue President Donald
Trump has eschewed while denying the scientific consensus that
industrial activity and fossil fuel use are causing climate change.
The bill includes $1.4 trillion to fund the government through September
2021 as well as a $900 billion coronavirus aid package.
The last U.S. energy bill, passed during the George W. Bush
administration, raised fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks,
mandated more use of ethanol and cut energy use in light bulbs and
appliances.
Senate Democrats hailed the legislation's climate provisions as a good
start.
"Are these provisions enough to meet the demands of science? No. But are
they a significant step in the right direction? Yes," Senate Democratic
Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
President-elect Joe Biden, a Democrat who takes office on Jan. 20, has
pledged to slash U.S. carbon dioxide emissions and to put climate change
at the center of national policy.
The legislation to be passed on Monday would require U.S. companies to
reduce the production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a greenhouse gas
used in air conditioning and refrigerators, to 15% of 2012 levels by
2036.
That would bring the United States into compliance with the Montreal
Protocol’s 2016 Kigali amendment, which Trump rejected despite
widespread support from both industry and environmental groups.
The bill also extends tax credits that have helped reduce the cost of
renewable energy. Solar facilities would be able to keep their 26% tax
credit for two more years, while onshore wind energy projects could keep
their credit for one more year.
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A wind farm shares space with corn fields the day before the Iowa
caucuses, where agriculture and clean energy are key issues, in
Latimer, Iowa, U.S. February 2, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Offshore wind projects, which have never had their own dedicated tax
credit, would be offered a credit worth 30% of their cost if they
start construction before the end of 2025.
The bill also directs the Department of Interior to set a goal of
producing at least 25 gigawatts of solar, wind and geothermal energy
on public lands by 2025. Currently, U.S. renewable capacity on
public lands amounted to more than 5 GW in 2019, according to a
report by The Yale Center for Business and the Environment and The
Wilderness Society.
Billions of dollars would be authorized for research and development
to advance technologies including carbon capture and storage, direct
air capture and advanced nuclear energy. Major business groups
including the Chamber of Commerce praised the legislation’s focus on
technology.
Under the legislation, coal mining companies would for another year
have to pay $1.10 per ton of mined coal into the Black Lung
Disability Trust Fund, a federal program giving benefits to the
families of coal miners who died from black lung disease. The mining
industry has lobbied to halve its taxes, which also include paying
55 cents per ton from surface mines.
With coal companies going bankrupt and a spike in cases of black
lung disease, the trust fund has been on the brink of insolvency.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom and Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Sonya
Hepinstall)
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