House Republicans Prepare to Oppose China, Clean Energy
By Christian Roselund
In its first month since taking office, the new Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives has signaled an aggressive anti-China position, an opposition to the energy transition, and an attempt to link these two positions. Specific actions include setting up a new committee on competition between the United States and China and threatening to introduce legislation to undo President Biden’s emergency proclamation freezing duties on solar imports from Southeast Asia for two years.
On 10 January 2023 the U.S. House voted to form a Select Committee on Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. All House Republicans voted in favor as well as more than 2/3 of Democrats. The committee will not be able to write laws but will hold hearings and provide policy advice.
House Republican Leadership has appointed Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisconsin) as chair of the Select Committee. Gallagher identified a focus on supply chains and critical mineral dependencies as a priority for the committee in a December op-ed in Fox News. However, given Republican opposition to subsidies for clean energy and unified opposition to the Inflation Reduction Act, it is likely that the Republican-led committee will act to strengthen trade barriers instead of pushing for proactive industrial policy to “on-shore” production.
House Republicans are also expected to challenge Biden’s climate agenda through the Energy and Commerce Committee. Representative Robert Latta (R-Ohio), a leader on the Energy and Commerce Committee, has told E&E News that he intends to question Biden Administration officials on the 2-year moratorium on duties on modules from Southeast Asia under the anti-circumvention investigation. Latta is one of the six co-sponsors of H.J.Res.22, which would void the regulations implementing Biden’s emergency proclamation.
Additional insights into Republican priorities and talking points could be heard at the first hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on 26 January 2023. The Roundtable on American Energy Security featured four experts who admitted to the existence of the climate crisis but expressed opposition to the transition to solar, wind, and other forms of non-hydro renewable energy to address it. These same experts usually referenced dependence on Chinese supply chains as a reason to oppose increased deployment of solar and wind and maintain use of fossil fuels and nuclear power.
This rhetorical admission of climate change is consistent with existent trends. An increasing number Republican politicians are moving from denying the existence of man-made climate change and downplaying its severity to admitting its existence even as the party largely opposes most means to reduce emissions.
The same Republican politicians that are leading opposition to Biden’s climate agenda and the energy transition are also among the largest recipients of funding from the oil & gas industry. Open Secrets found that among the 435 members of the U.S. House, House Energy & Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) received the 7th-highest level of contributions from the oil and gas industry at $295,467 in 2022. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) received the highest level of donations at $616,563, and House Majority Leader Steven Scalise (R-Louisiana) received the 4th-highest level at $368,291. Of the 20 candidates with the highest level of oil & gas contributions, 17 were members of the Republican Party.
News analysis: Chairman Gallagher outlines China committee’s agenda (Roll Call)
