While the Biden administration takes steps to improve equity as it pursues environmental crime, lawmakers are discussing tax credits in their bipartisan climate push.
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DOJ unveils a new strategy for environmental justice
On Thursday, the Justice Department announced that it The new office will be a focus on environmental justice.
Many polluting plants have been historically located in minority areas, posing additional health risks.
The department announced the opening of the office and a new strategy for environmental justice.
A new approach: Vanita Gupta, Associate Attorney General, said that the department’s environmental strategy would include prioritizing enforcement and civil rights statutes.
She also stated that it will direct DOJ to prioritize cases that reduce environmental damage for overburdened populations.
It directs the Office of Environmental Justice, to work with communities that have been victims of environmental crimes, and requires all 93 U.S. Attorneys to designate an Environmental Justice Coordinator to identify areas of concern in their respective communities.
The SEPs are back! The department also announced that it would restore the use supplemental environmental projects (SEPs), which are used to punish violators of environmental laws and allow polluters to choose to subsidize clean-up projects.
Trump’s administration had ended their use.
Last year, the Justice Department issued an order that removed nine Trump-era directives. This memo also included restrictions on SEPs.
Wyn Hornbuckle, spokesperson at Justice Department, stated that the prior memo removed the restrictions pending a review. The issuance of Thursday’s interim rule completes this process.
The background: While on the campaign trail President Biden made it clear that environmental justice would be a central theme in his administration. Biden has launched the Justice40 initiative since he took office. It states that 40% of the benefits of clean energy investments and government climate should be shared with historically disadvantaged communities.
Find out more about these new moves.
LAWMAKERS LOOK AT TAX CREDITS IN BIPARTISAN PUSH
The third bipartisan climate conference on Capitol Hill was focused on energy tax credits, lawmakers stated late Wednesday.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said lawmakers were looking at tax incentives, including benefits for wind, solar, electric vehicles, nuclear and carbon capture, which seeks to prevent emissions from burned fossil fuels from going into the air.
Almost everything you can imagine has been suggested in [the]he said to reporters.
The North Dakota Republican acknowledged, however, that not all credits would end up in a package.
Next, we need to examine all these technologies and have someone explain to us how incremental emissions reductions are achieved. We can’t afford to fund all of them, Cramer stated.
Biden officials plan to purchase oil reserves replenishment
Wednesday’s announcement was made by the Department of Energy It will solicit bids for 60 million barrels of oil.o To help replenish the record release from Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which President Biden approved earlier in spring to address high gas prices.
The bidding process for the replacement of about one-third (or more) of the 180 million barrels of oil that were released as a result of the Russian invasion will begin in the autumn.
In a statement, the department stated that it has scheduled the buyback and subsequent delivery to occur when it expects oil prices to drop significantly. It did not give details on when delivery would occur.
The details: The department stated that it will make efforts to relax buyback regulations in order to allow competitive bidding and not the traditional index-pricing system used to sell SPRs. The buyback is separate to revenue-raising SPRs sales, which Congress mandated. The department forecasts that there will be approximately 265 million barrels of oil between fiscal years 2023-2031.
Biden announced in March the largest-ever SPR 180 million barrels release in six months. This was to offset price spikes that started months ago and were exacerbated in part by the war in Ukraine. Prior to this announcement, the administration had made smaller SPR releases of only 30 million barrels in march and 50 million in novembre.
Learn more about the announcement.
YES TO NOPEC
Thursday’s House Judiciary Committee approved a bill that would alter antirust laws and allow the U.S., a group made up of oil-producing nations to sue OPEC for alleged price manipulation.
The bipartisan bill was passed with 17 votes to 4
The White House’s position on the bill remains unclear.
Jen Psaki, White House press Secretary, said Thursday that she did not have a position on the bill. However, Jen stated that they believe the potential implications and unintended effects of the legislation need to be further studied and discussed.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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Russia to Use Nord Stream 2 At Home as Europe Shuns Its GasBloomberg)
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CEQ is the top environmental justice company (E&E News)
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Studies show that only 5% of plastic waste is recycled in the United States.The Guardian)
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OPEC+ agrees for a modest production rise after EU imposes a Russian oil banCNBC)
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The House passes Vermont’s proposed bill for environmental justice.VTDigger)
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