Climate Change Solutions - June 9, 2020

From May 26 to June 8, 2020, 2 bills were referred to committees in the Senate and 11 in the House to address environmental and energy issues. In addition to the introduction of environmentally relevant legislation, the Senate passed one bill.

Highlights

On June 8 the Senate voted 80-17 to take up the Great American Outdoors Act (S.3422), which would permanently and fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, helping address the $21 billion maintenance backlog in national parks and other federal land agencies. The vote to pass the bill will likely take place this week or early next week. An identical companion bill, H.R.7092, was also introduced in the House last week.

Other Congressional legislation on land conservation includes: H.R.7045, which would require the Secretary of Agriculture to evaluate land that could be included in a National Forest in Hawai’i; H.R.7098, which would expand the land area of Saguaro National Park; and H.R.7099, which would provide a land parcel to the Coconino National Forest in Arizona.

Wildlife conservation has garnered strong bipartisan support during the 116th Congress. A recent EESI article details conservation legislation introduced over the past year and a half.

“Must-pass” National Defense Authorization Act Is an Opportunity for Environmental Policies As Congress continues to focus on responding to the coronavirus crisis, deadlines for several “must-pass” pieces of legislation grow closer. One bill that must-pass is the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which shows promise for improving the nation’s capacity to respond to climate change. [click for more]

Senate Infrastructure Hearings Light on Climate Considerations Last week, two Senate committees convened hearings on transportation and infrastructure. Both hearings addressed the impacts of COVID-19 on the transportation sector, and witnesses advocated for a federal infrastructure package to spur economic recovery post pandemic.  [click for more]