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Republican attacks on climate funding are perfect targets for activists and 'Bidenomics' tour [1]
['Daily Kos Staff Emeritus']
Date: 2023-07-12
Joan McCarter explored the cuts extremist Republicans want to inflict on the budget and the nation in her piece today—Republicans are jeopardizing pretty much everything. They propose a litany of destructiveness.
Among the many hoped-for cuts are those related to climate and energy in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). No surprise, of course. The count of Senate and House Republicans with a history of rejecting climate science is still 149, more than half the GOP’s congressional total. Just 13 House Republicans voted for the IIJA. and none of them nor any Senate Republicans voted for the Inflation Reduction Act. The funding for these two laws have been on the GOP target list ever since, as E&E News has been regularly chronicling.
Kristopher Tigue at Inside Climate News noted Tuesday:
Last week, the Clean Budget Coalition—a watchdog group composed of environmental advocacy nonprofits, including the Environmental Defense Fund, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Union of Concerned Scientists—said it found at least 17 “poison pill” amendments to appropriations bills that would block clean energy funding and impede federal efforts to address global warming. “The climate poison pills Republican budget leaders proposed are unsound, and they show that GOP leadership is not serious about working with Democrats to pass a budget and prevent a government shutdown,” Elizabeth Gore, senior vice president for political affairs at Environmental Defense Fund, said in a press release. “Their proposed budget, because of these poison pills and cuts to critical clean energy programs, would harm public health and raise energy costs for families and businesses. This is not a starting point for any reasonable negotiations.”
As McCarter points out, a lot of these cutting efforts are going to fail. Some won’t even get a vote. But their intent is obvious. Here are some of the specifics as noted by Tigue:
Ban the federal government from buying EVs and EV batteries, and forbidding it from building EV charging stations;
Block implementation of President Joe Biden’s executive order for reaching net-zero emissions at federal facilities by 2045;
executive order Block U.S. funding to the Green Climate Fund, designed to help developing countries meet their Paris Agreement goals;
Ban all funding related to the Justice40 initiative designed to ensure 40% of the “overall benefits” of federal environmental and energy investments go to disadvantaged communities;
Ban the Defense Department from funding research and development on projects involving EVs, EV charging infrastructure, or solar panel technology;
Ban the Biden administration from invoking the Defense Production Act to boost EVs, EV batteries, EV charging infrastructure, or critical minerals used in EVs;
Mandate that DOD terminate any contracts for electric non-combat vehicles.
in a heavily researched report published in June—Defending the Climate Using the Defense Production Act to Mobilize American Clean Energy Manufacturing—the environmental advocates at Evergreen Action called for greatly expanding the president’s use of the Defense Production Act that Republicans desire so much to undermine. In case you want a good summary of the 45-page report, David Dayen provided one in his Biden’s Unused Clean Energy Authority analysis.
This summer’s White House campaign touting “Bidenomics” provides an excellent opportunity for the administration to point out how much important work across the nation is getting done or will get thanks to the IIJA and IRA. With his blast at Tommy Tuberville for praising the bacon without noting he voted to kill the pig, Biden himself has already set the tone for how Democratic candidates and incumbents can point out the benefits of these acts to improve life for constituents in their districts and states now and in the future. That includes good new jobs, restoration of the U.S. manufacturing base, cuts in pollution, and mitigation of climate impacts being felt nearly everywhere now.
But this effort shouldn’t be left solely to the administration and Democratic candidates. Rank-and-file Democrats should participate, too.
Talking about IRA and IIJA in general is worthwhile, but this will not be nearly as effective as focusing on one or more local projects that are already underway or have at least been approved. We can write letters to the editor or make phone calls to local media, print and broadcast, urging coverage of these projects. Not always easy, to be sure, but building regular communication with reporters and editors can pay off. At campaign events for Republican incumbents, we can ask—shouting out the question if necessary—why they voted against the IIJA and IRA but then praise a local project funded by either of the acts.
We should also contact with Democratic incumbents or with candidates challenging Republicans to urge them to talk up these projects on the campaign trail if they aren’t already doing so. If you’re in a district represented by a Democrat who will almost certainly be reelected—as I am—then perhaps you can find a neighboring district where the incumbent or a challenger will likely face a struggle at the polls in 2024.
I’m lucky. My representative—Kevin Mullin, who won the seat previously held by seven-term Jackie Speiers and is a shoo-in for reelection—is already on the case. District projects Mullin has touted include more than $81 million:
$31,000,000 to Update San Francisco International Airport’s International Terminal
$49,350,599 formula grant to San Francisco International Airport
$100,000 to Millbrae for drought tolerant landscaping
$150,000 to Redwood City for Bayfront Canal flood management
$292,000 formula grant to the San Carlos Airport
$295,000 formula grant to the San Carlos AirportA
That’s just a taste of what’s to come. Statewide, California is destined to receive billions under the IIJA, with 971 projects now identified for funding. You can find out about your state’s situation here. Here’s an article on some of what the IRA means for California.
I’ll be looking for a district where Democratic victory isn’t assured to test out my advice.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/12/2180753/-Republican-attacks-on-climate-provisions-in-IRA-and-IIJA-are-perfect-targets-for-Bidenomics-tour
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