In less than two months, President Donald Trump has taken a sledgehammer to the Biden administration’s energy policy, which pushed a Green New Deal-style agenda based on the need to address what Biden called a “climate crisis.” 

Democrats are hoping to hold back the onslaught of energy policy reform and to maintain as much of the Biden-era policies as possible. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and failed 2016 Democratic vice-presidential candidate and current Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., put forth a resolution to overturn Trump’s executive order declaring a “national energy emergency.” The Democrats' measure failed Thursday in a 52-47 vote. 

Meanwhile, House Republicans Thursday managed to pass two resolutions — one blocking Biden’s methane tax and another overturning Biden’s ban on certain types of gas-powered water heaters. 

Expert says subsidies are undermining grid reliability

Democrats at two house hearings this week — one looking at the surge in spending at the end of the Biden administration and another looking at how to strengthen grid reliability — criticized Trump’s actions, including funding freezes and federal workforce reductions, and called for a continuation of Biden’s energy policies to address the “climate crisis.”

“The climate crisis is here, and it is our patriotic duty to do everything we can to reverse it,” Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said at Tuesday’s House Oversight Committee hearing on grid reliability. 

Frost praised the Inflation Reduction Act, which by some estimates could give away as much as $3 trillion in taxpayer subsidies for renewable energy and green initiatives. Frost also criticized Trump for freezing the influx of tax dollars needed for what he claimed are cheaper energy sources. 

Alex Epstein, president of the Center for Industrial Progress and author of “Fossil Future,” disputed that there’s a climate crisis and argued that the U.S. is actually in an “electricity crisis.” 

This was created, he argued, because the U.S. has destroyed reliable power plants, made nuclear expensive and difficult to develop, and enacted policies that are “destroying, delaying and defunding fossil fuel power plants that are the only means of getting reliable electricity on a large scale.” 

“At root, our electricity crisis is very simple. We are artificially restricting the supply of reliable electricity, and we are artificially increasing the demand for reliable electricity,” Epstein said, explaining that electrification programs like EV mandates and appliance standards drive up demand. 

Epstein argued that the federal government should get rid of subsidies, which he said are undermining grid reliability. This system of providing tax credits for wind and solar rewards unreliable generators and removes any penalties for unreliable delivery of energy. 

“The gravest existential threat to our national security is climate change."

A few of the Democrats on the committee rejected Epstein’s arguments and refused to engage him. Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., argued that there is no war on fossil fuels because of record-high production rates. She then explained that she believes fossil fuels are a threat to the nation. 

“The gravest existential threat to our national security is climate change. It’s laughable, quite frankly, to hear you say that the climate crisis doesn’t exist. I like to agree with the 99% of scientists,” Ansari said. 

Epstein said that if Ansari asked him a question, he’d be willing to explain his position disputing a climate crisis, but Ansari replied, “I don’t need to hear more explanation on lies.” 

Ansari didn’t provide further details on what scientists she was referring to, but it may have been the so-called “scientific consensus” on climate change. This was demonstrated by such studies as Cook et al. (2013) and Lynas et al. (2021). While there are debates over the quality of the methodology used in those studies, both of the studies assessed the percentage of researchers who believed that carbon dioxide was the main driver of a warming trend. Neither of the studies assessed the degree to which the researchers believed this impact was causing a “crisis.” 

While Ansari wasn’t interested in Epstein’s explanation, Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., gave him a chance to explain his position. 

Epstein said the macro data shows we are safer from climate disasters than at any other time in history. “Climate change does not equal climate catastrophe, and that is ultimately an issue of philosophy and methodology, not an issue of science,” Epstein said. 

In his closing remarks, Frost labelled Epstein a “conspiracy theorist” who calls “climate change a hoax.” Epstein never said any such thing, but when Epstein tried to tell Frost that, Frost cut him off. 

GOP talks about energy spending surge, but Dems talk about layoffs

A House Energy Committee hearing Wednesday attempted to examine the surge in spending and identify if there was any misuse of federal funds. Democrats on the committee were more interested in talking about federal employees who were fired as part of an effort that Trump says will create a more efficient government. 

“Congress is often accused of being out of touch and out of step with the American people, but this hearing is a perfect example of that, at a time when President Trump and Elon Musk are stealing funds approved by Congress for the American people and indiscriminately firing inspector generals and hundreds of thousands of public servants,” Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said. 

In the final days of the Biden administration, there was a rush to shovel out as many tax dollars as possible in support of Biden’s green energy agenda, in the anticipation that Trump would freeze spending, which he did. 

Project Veritas released an undercover video earlier this month showing Brent Efron, special advisor for implementation at the Environmental Protection Agency, discussing an effort at the agency to “get as much money out as fast as possible” before there’s a change in administration. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has since clawed back the money. 

The Department of Energy Loans Project Office carried out a similar frenzy to approve loans before Trump took over, the Washington Beacon reported. 

Forecast risks

The panel of witnesses at the Energy Committee hearing included two inspectors general and two directors. 

Nicole Murley, acting inspector general for the Environmental Protection Agency, discussed a number of risk factors observed in the way in which funds were rapidly dispersed under the Biden administration. She said the Office of Inspector General at the EPA repeatedly flagged systemic issues regarding the agency’s internal controls, particularly data quality and management of federal funding recipients. 

“We have observed trends in our ongoing oversight of the EPA Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act operations, as well as our broader oversight work for which we forecast risks for IRA [Inflation Reduction Act] funding,” Murley said. 

When asked about the Trump administration’s firing of inspectors general, the panel of witnesses said that the reductions were stretching their staffing levels thin and reducing oversight of funding. 

The reduction in the federal workforce was a point that every Democrat brought up at the House Oversight hearing as well. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., pointed out a double standard with which the Democrats show concern about job losses. 

“I was not hearing of the outcries from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, when our Keystone XL pipeliners were laid off, when my district was regulated into poverty when oil and gas was pushed out by overregulation and Green New Deal policies,” Boebert said.

While the Democrats want to maintain the Biden administration climate agenda, the GOP remains determined to undo as much of it as they can. For now, it doesn’t appear that appeals to the “climate crisis” narrative or talking points about funding freezes and federal workforce reductions are having much of an impact on either public sentiment or policy.