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Combatting the Climate Crisis

As the Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, Climate, and Grid Security, Rep. DeGette plays a key role in shaping the nation’s energy policies.

For years, as a senior member of the committee, DeGette has led an effort to hold some of the nation’s largest oil and gas producers accountable, advance environmental justice for all and expedite America’s transition to cleaner forms of renewable energy.

Cutting Methane Emissions

DeGette has authored several key pieces of legislation aimed at limiting the oil and gas industry’s emissions – including one of the first bills President Biden signed into law shortly after taking office to restore the methane-emission standards that were in place under the Obama administration but had been repealed by the Trump administration.

Those standards, which set strict limits on the amount of methane oil and gas companies can release from drilling sites in the U.S., are widely seen by climate scientists as critical to combatting the climate crisis.    

Nearly one-third of all methane released in the U.S. comes from oil and gas drilling operations. As the top Democrat on the subcommittee that oversees the oil and gas industry, DeGette is determined to enact policies that will further reduce the release of harmful emissions from their sites.

Promoting Environmental Justice

When our nation’s environmental laws are ignored, skirted, or broken altogether, it is often minority and low-income communities that suffer the most.

To help deliver on the promise of environmental justice in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by large amounts of pollution from nearby facilities, DeGette has introduced legislation that will require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to launch a new federal initiative. This initiative will identify and clean up 100 of the most heavily polluted communities in the U.S.

The legislation will also – for the first time – require EPA to study the cumulative impact that multiple sources of pollution can have on a nearby community and incorporate that information into the agency’s health assessments going forward. 

Creating the nation’s first-ever Federal Clean Energy Standard

In addition to reducing methane emissions, DeGette has authored legislation that would create the first-ever federal clean-energy standard. The measure would require U.S. power companies to eliminate their net carbon emissions– a key step in our effort to fight climate change. 

According to climate experts, the U.S. needs to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2030 and to net zero by 2050 to stave off the worst effects of the climate crisis.

Nearly 25% of all U.S. carbon emissions comes from power plants producing electricity. If approved, DeGette's legislation – known as the Clean Energy Innovation and Deployment Act (CEIDA) – would require U.S. power companies to eliminate their net carbon emissions by as early as 2035.

The legislation includes incentives for power plants that are already prepared to convert their facilities and begin producing electricity with net-zero emissions to do so immediately.

It will also expedite the innovation and deployment of new technologies needed to lower emissions across the country, and will ensure a just transition for workers by providing assistance to help train current fossil-fuel-industry workers to take on the jobs of tomorrow.

Protecting Communities from Fracking

DeGette is a lead sponsor of legislation to eliminate the so-called “Halliburton Loophole,” which exempts the chemicals used in fracking operations from the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

If approved, DeGette’s legislation – known as the FRAC Act – would require fracking companies to publicly disclose the chemicals they are pumping into the ground. It would also give the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency authority to regulate the process going forward.

To learn more about the FRAC Act and the other bills DeGette has cosponsored to regulate fracking, click here.

Protecting communities from harmful toxins

Unknown toxins spewing from a nearby industrial facility can pose a significant threat to those who live nearby. To help protect some of our most vulnerable communities, DeGette has been leading an effort to close a legal loophole that allows refineries in the U.S. to pump an unlimited amount of hydrogen cyanide – a highly toxic chemical – into the atmosphere.

While hydrogen cyanide is known to have a severe impact on people’s health, there is currently no federal limit on the amount of hydrogen cyanide that refineries can release into the air.

DeGette's legislation would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine the potential health effects that hydrogen cyanide can have on nearby communities and set a maximum federal limit that all U.S. refineries must abide by to fully protect the health of nearby residents.