CLEAN Future Act: A Cross-Sectoral Plan to Combat Climate Change

On January 28, Democratic leaders on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce released a draft of the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s (CLEAN) Future Act. Committee leaders described the bill as “a set of comprehensive, specific steps for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas pollution.” If enacted, the bill would institute a national goal of reaching a 100 percent clean economy by 2050 and create additional policies aimed at achieving that goal.

The CLEAN Future Act aims to decarbonize the economy through policies directed at nearly every sector of the U.S. economy, and includes near-term goals for emissions reductions in specific sectors as well as the long-term zero-emissions goal. It also emphasizes the role of state and local entities in driving the decarbonization process. The bill underscores the importance of environmental justice as a major consideration in policy development and implementation.

Power Sector

The CLEAN Future Act focuses heavily on the power industry, identifying it as a “linchpin for deep decarbonization.” The bill would establish a national Clean Electricity Standard requiring electricity suppliers to increase the percentage of energy provided from clean electricity sources each year beginning in 2022. The bill would also direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to pass regulations facilitating the expansion of clean energy. Finally, the bill contains provisions to upgrade the nation’s energy grid. These include improvements to security, resilience, storage, federal assistance to rural electric cooperatives, and rebates for increasing the efficiency of existing infrastructure.

Building Sector

The CLEAN Future Act emphasizes energy efficiency, building codes, and retrofits to existing buildings. The bill would establish building codes that require zero energy ready buildings, which the bill describes as “highly efficient buildings that could meet the balance of energy needs from onsite or nearby sources of energy that do not produce greenhouse gases,” by 2030. The bill also places a strong emphasis on increasing the efficiency of existing buildings through retrofits, such as clean energy installations and upgrades to more efficient technologies. Specifically, the bill would increase funds authorized to the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which supports state and local retrofit projects. The bill also includes measures to support retrofits for public buildings, schools, and homes, and would establish the Buy Clean Program to promote the use of low-carbon materials in construction.

Transportation Sector

The bill contains several policies aimed at decarbonizing the transportation sector. These include directives to the EPA to establish ambitious vehicle performance standards and emissions standards for aircraft. The bill also invests heavily in electric vehicles and a buildout of electric vehicle infrastructure.

Cross-cutting policies

Along with these sector-specific policies, the bill would establish several programs with economy-wide effects. First, states would be required to prepare State Climate Plans detailing actions they will take to meet the national targets. The Act would also establish a National Climate Bank to finance decarbonization projects. The Energy Workforce Grant Program would help businesses pay employees for participating in renewable energy job training, and employees working on projects funded under the Act would receive wages no less than the local prevailing wage. Finally, the Act would require the federal government to consider climate change in all national security decisions.

Republicans have also released some legislation on climate change in the first two months of 2020, indicating possible openings for collaboration. Each party has laid the groundwork with separate climate plans, but there are some areas of overlap. If these bipartisan priorities are recognized and acted upon, federal action on issues such as energy efficiency, renewable energy storage, updates to the electricity grid, and transportation is possible.

Author: Abby Neal