House Republicans are aiming for a quick assault against Biden administration appliance standards and a key Inflation Reduction Act program.
This week, the House will vote to rescind two Biden regulations: an EPA rule fining oil and gas operators for exceeding methane emission limits, an action mandated by the Democrats’ 2022 climate law, and a Department of Energy efficiency standard for gas-fired water heaters that Republicans have derided as a “radical ban.”
Lawmakers are planning to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn both rules. The law allows Congress to undo recently finalized actions by simple majority.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright riffed on water heaters at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference in suburban Washington.
“It’s among the cheapest ways to heat your water, takes the least space, lower cost, burns natural gas, our lowest-cost thermal energy we can have in our homes,” he said. “It’s a win on every box. That’s why they’ve been selling like hotcakes and are an emerging product.”
Referencing a company operating in Georgia, he continued: “So what did the Biden administration do? They passed a regulation that would make that product illegal. And that company would be dead.”
The Biden administration repeatedly defended its efficiency rules as working to protect consumers and the environment, but Republicans have for years been attacking such actions.
Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), who introduced the CRA resolution against the DOE rule, called it a “radical ban on gas water heaters” as an “attack on American homes.”
When it comes to the methane fee, Republicans can only use the CRA to undo the Biden rules implementing current law. They will rely on their planned budget reconciliation package to undo the underlying mandate.
Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), who represents an oil and gas producing Permian Basin, has called the methane fee part of Biden’s “war on energy … which hurt the hardworking energy producers in my district who have worked diligently to increase the production while fueling our allies abroad.”
The methane fee was a product of negotiations between key Democrats and then-Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia when crafting the climate law.
Environmentalists have argued the measure set up a “reasonable fee” that only the “largest polluters” failing to install cost-effective technologies would have to pay.
They also say oil and gas companies waste about 16 million metric tons of methane every year through venting, flaring and leaks — which maths out to $2 billion worth of fuel.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) last week released a list of rules Republicans plan to target using the CRA, including actions dealing with electric vehicles and offshore drilling. The list may grow if time allows.
Reporter Timothy Cama contributed.
