As Washington barrels toward a potential government shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is looking for leverage on clean energy.
On a Monday press call led by the group Climate Power, the New York Democrat said he hoped to use the ongoing government funding fight as a negotiating point to fund clean energy projects.
President Donald Trump has moved in the past months to cancel wind and solar projects and promote fossil fuels.
“We’re trying to fix this, and the government funding bill, the CR bill, gives us an enormous chance to force Trump to sit down and talk to us,” Schumer said.
Both the Senate and the House departed for a weeklong recess without passing a continuing resolution that would keep the government open past Sept. 30.
Over the weekend, Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) repeated their demand for a meeting with Trump to negotiate further on government funding.
Trump has placed blame for the looming shutdown squarely on Democrats but told reporters Saturday that he would be open to meeting with Democratic leaders. Such a meeting, Schumer said Monday, could be an opportunity to negotiate on clean energy.
The message that Democrats have been looking to carry into the funding fight is that “Trump is shutting down the government by not negotiating with Democrats on health care — we’re saying health care because everyone agrees with that — and clean energy,” Schumer said.
A meeting between Trump and Democratic leaders appears to be in the works, according to reporting by POLITICO, based on people familiar with the situation.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii,) the Democratic Caucus’ chief deputy whip, cautioned Monday that the chance of getting a new energy provision into a continuing resolution bill is “vanishingly unlikely” given the proximity of a shutdown.
“But I do think there’s deal space over the next six months to alleviate the pain,” Schatz said.
Republican and Democratic leadership put forward rival funding bills last week — the Republicans opting for a “clean” funding package without any policy riders, while Democrats pushed for a bill that would extend expiring health care subsidies and protect some energy and climate funding. Both proposals failed to advance in dueling Senate votes Friday.
Even if Trump is unwilling to change his tune on clean energy during this funding fight, a rise in energy prices could force the administration to come to the table in the coming months, Schatz suggested.
“The silver lining of price spikes is that it’s going to put in front of us the urgency of doing something about energy costs,” Schatz said.
Reporter Andres Picon contributed.
