Environmentalists Launch Campaign to Ban Gas from U.S. Clean Energy Program

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): More than a dozen environmental organizations launched a campaign aimed at excluding natural gas from a potential US clean electricity payment program that some Democrats want included in Congress' recently passed budget resolution.

The environmental groups, including Oil Change International, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, intend to pressure lawmakers to exclude gas generators from such a program while prioritizing renewable energy sources. The "Gas is Not Clean" campaign will also track which legislators support the campaign's goals.

"Any clean energy standard or payment program that allows gas would fly directly in the face of President Biden's commitment to decarbonization," said Collin Rees, Oil Change International's US campaign manager, in a Sept. 1 statement. "Clean energy means no gas and no other fossil fuels, period."

The environmentalists' campaign launch preceded the House Energy and Commerce Committee's expected Sept. 13 markup during which lawmakers will consider legislative provisions to reduce emissions, including the clean electricity payment program.

Senate Budget Committee leaders want to include the program, which would encourage load-serving entities to add clean electricity generation and penalize those that do not. The program would seek to help the US hit one of President Joe Biden's climate targets: generating 80% of the nation's power from zero-carbon energy sources by 2030.

Some utilities and trade groups have questioned the administration's ambitious decarbonization timeline, calling for more realistic targets to ensure an affordable and reliable power supply.

"While we haven't seen any specific legislative language on the clean energy payment program for APPA and its members to react to, we firmly believe that natural gas will play an important role as a dispatchable resource in the clean energy transition by electric utilities, helping to maintain grid reliability and affordability," Desmarie Waterhouse, vice president of government relations and counsel for the American Public Power Association, said in an Sept. 2 email.

The American Petroleum Institute Sept. 2 said the use of gas for generation has enabled the US to lead the world in cutting power plant emissions.

"It's also critical to driving innovation in vital new technologies such as CCUS and hydrogen, which will be necessary to meet the United States' ambitious long term emissions reduction targets," said Dustin Meyer, API's vice president-natural gas markets, in an email.

Congress has passed the $3.5 trillion budget resolution, though bills to carry out the budget have yet to be released. Relevant committees are now tasked with drafting provisions of that reconciliation package. The budget resolution is not subject to the Senate's filibuster, offering Democrats a chance to potentially pass more aggressive climate and clean energy provisions through the narrowly divided chambers.

 Courtesy: www.spglobal.com