In pursuing historic climate change agenda, Biden may find surprising ally

Adam Edelman

President-elect Joe Biden has made no secret that tackling climate change will be one of his top priorities. But to enact his platform to reduce global warming he may find an unexpected ally: Republicans. Biden campaigned on the most ambitious climate agenda in history: one that included plans for pioneering green energy and infrastructure projects and proposals to address environmental racism. Large chunks of his "Build Back Better" economic agenda are explicitly tied to climate-related policies. Biden has said he will re-enter the U.S. in the Paris climate accord on his first day in office and will prioritize undoing dozens of environmental regulatory rollbacks put into place by President Donald Trump — all via execution action. But what comes after that will be the hard part: trying to implement his climate agenda through legislation. And that's where he may find a partnership with Republicans on Capitol Hill. While some in the GOP remain in steadfast denial that human-caused climate change even exists, dozens of Republican lawmakers have acknowledged that the time has come to address the crisis and have put forward policies that have gained some degree of bipartisan traction. Much of how Biden might navigate the issue remains tied up in two closely watched Senate runoff elections in Georgia next month. If Democrats win both, they win control of the chamber, and with it, leadership posts of pivotal climate-oriented committees, which would give Biden a leg up in setting the rules of the road on the issue. But if Democrats fall short, Republicans will maintain Senate control, and with it, the ability to advance their own climate bills. And it's in these areas — especially as it pertains to the investment in and development of green energy sources, green technologies and green infrastructure — where he could end up finding common ground. The Growing Climate Solutions Act, sponsored by Sens. Mike Braun, R-Ind., Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., focuses on capturing carbon technologies in the agricultural sector, while Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Whitehouse have put together another bipartisan bill focused on increasing carbon capture methods that occur naturally within ocean and coastal ecosystems. Earlier this year, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., began pushing a new conservative climate policy effort along with seven of his Republican colleagues — meant to rival the progressive "Green New Deal" — including Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Tex., who introduced legislation, titled the New Energy Frontier, focused developing carbon-capture technologies...MORE