Energy & Sustainability Washington Update

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.

Congress returned from the annual August recess on September 9 for a three-week work period before returning home for a district work period the first two weeks of October.

Our April 2024 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update covers new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law & Inflation Reduction Act opportunities, new DOE funding for industrial decarbonization, electric heat pumps, and Interconnection of renewable energy into the grid, plus new vehicle pollution standards focused on EVs and a new national zero-emission freight corridor strategy