Congress is budgeting to spend $1.5 trillion toward clean energy and environment spending for this fiscal year.
This is President Joe Biden’s biggest federal spending measure since he took office, The New York Times reported.
“The bipartisan funding bill proves once more that members of both parties can come together to deliver results for the American people,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. “But we continue to call on Congress to provide the funds urgently needed to prevent severe disruptions to our COVID-19 response.”
E&E News reported support toward funding green energy is one-sided within Congress. Specifically, Democrats couldn’t get Republicans to “accept new spending for the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund,” according to the report.
House Resolution 2471 includes 12 different spending bills, according to E&E News. It also includes over $13 billion in assistance to Ukraine and $15 billion in coronavirus relief. When it came to energy, the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy received record funding of $3.2 billion. This was more than a $330 million increase from the previous year. The Office of Nuclear energy saw a boost of over $140 million to a new funding level of $1.65 billion.
"Lol. Only $1.65 billion for DOE nuclear activities," Oilfield Rando, creator of the website RandoLand.us, said on Twitter about the federal spending legislation. "Half of the renewables projects budget. That's amazing."
House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said she supports the funding.
“I am so proud of this government funding legislation, which delivers transformative federal investments to help lower the cost of living for working families, create American jobs, and provide a lifeline for the vulnerable," DeLauro said to E&E News. "During this time of great uncertainty and change, we are tackling some of our nation’s biggest challenges, including making health care more affordable, confronting the climate crisis, and protecting our national security.”
“Put us Republicans in the surreal position of having to push a commander in chief’s party into giving his commanders the funding they need," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said to The New York Times. "But over many Democrats’ objections, Republicans made sure this deal gets the job done for our armed forces.”
