A bipartisan group of legislators weighed policies related to a tariff on imports to countries that contribute to climate changes and environmental reviews. Republicans have long criticized this policy as too burdensome during a meeting on energy and climate issues.
Monday saw a group of around a dozen lawmakers from all ideologies meet to discuss the issues. Sen. Joe Manchin (D.W.Va.), described it as getting everyone together to brainstorm ideas on how we can all work together.
We want to ensure that fossil continues to be reliable and that it can continue to provide us with that reliability, he stated.
Sen. Mitt Romney (Republican from Utah), said that the ideas discussed included how we were going to get our minerals processed, where we were going to get them, how we were going to get them processed and the NEPA review process when you think about building renewable facilities. He also highlighted the challenges we face.
NEPA is the National Environmental Policy Act. It requires environmental reviews for major projects, including energy infrastructure but also other construction such as highways.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) Sen. Bill Cassidy (Republican-La.) stated that he supported a carbon border adjustment, which would allow for import tariffs on products from countries with less stringent climate regulations.
Cassidy stated that the current system encourages countries like China, India, and Vietnam not to pay attention to their emissions because it is cheaper to produce a good by not paying. A border carbon adjustment would benefit our workers, our industry, and incentivize them.
This is about national security. He said that right now, we were losing jobs, we were losing industry, and China’s economies are getting stronger. A carbon border adjustment reverses this.
The meeting was not only open to Republicans but also included Democrats who are more moderate like Sen. Mark Kelly (D–Ariz.) or more progressive like Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
The meeting was held one week after a previous meeting, which was only attended once by Sen. Kevin Cramer of N.D., but was organized by Lisa Murkowski and Manchin (R-Alaska).
According to Karina Borger, Murkowski was unable to attend the previous meeting due to flight issues.
The talks are taking place as Democrats push for climate change action through a reconciliation bill. Democrats call for tax credits for clean energy, electric vehicles, and an incentive program to reduce methane emissions from oil production.
Last week, Manchin seemed to indicate that his bipartisan push didn’t mean climate policies would not be removed from reconciliation.
No, no.
He also said that he knows that on energy, Im working with a group that is trying to find a Bipartisan Way that We Want to Move Forward.