Energy & Sustainability

Last week, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions voted 18-4 to advance Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s nomination for labor secretary. The bipartisan approval signals a non-controversial confirmation vote of the full Senate. When that occurs, Secretary-designate Walsh will take over a department that is front and center in the nascent Biden administration. Executing White House priorities including the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the climate crisis, and reversing certain Trump era actions, will soon be Walsh’s responsibility. His experience in Massachusetts politics gives a sense of how Walsh will approach his new post.

After what felt like one of the longest election seasons in history, Washington is preparing to welcome the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. What does this all mean for energy and sustainability?

Read about how the administration of President-Elect Joe Biden could shape clean tech, energy, and environmental policy in a divided government.

ML Strategies and Mintz continue to engage with key decision makers on various energy and sustainability matters before the Congress and Administration. Federal efforts on these issues have continued apace as part of and separately from the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic.

While Congress and the Administration spent much of May working to address the economic, social, and public health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was still significant activity on energy and sustainability-related matters.

Energy & Sustainability Washington Updates — May 2020

With the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic over the past month as a major public health and economic crisis, the primary focus on Capitol Hill has been on passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on March 27. However, there were other developments on energy and sustainability policy on Capitol Hill and in the Administration.

Read the latest energy policy updates coming out of the Capitol, including updates on the president’s 2020 fiscal year budget request, new energy legislation, and the recent State of the Union Address.

Read about the House Democrats’ $760 billion infrastructure proposal as well as the CLEAN Future Act and other new energy legislation.

Read about new energy legislation in Congress, the extension of various federal energy tax provisions, and the swearing in of the new Secretary of Energy.

Congress returns to Washington the week of December 2 for a short work period of two weeks, although additional legislative days may be added to the calendar as the House and Senate work to conclude several matters before the end of the year. Items on the agenda include Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations, the annual National Defense Authorization Act, and a potential year-end omnibus legislative package that would include various bills.

November opens on Capitol Hill with the Senate in session the first week while the House is in a district work period. Both chambers are in session the weeks of November 11 and November 18, before breaking for the week of Thanksgiving. There are only 16 remaining legislative days in the year where both the House and Senate will be in session at the same time.