June Climate Solutions Caucus Round-Up

Dear Stakeholder,

Please see below for highlights from June and a preview of what’s to come.

June Engagement:

Co-Chair Houlahan and Members of the Caucus met for a roundtable on permitting reform.

• Caucus Members met in late June for a roundtable discussion on permitting reform with a broad range of stakeholders, including the Bipartisan Policy Center, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, American Clean Power, National Electrical Manufacturers Association, The Nature Conservancy, and American Council on Renewable Energy. Members received an update on the permitting reform landscape and posed questions to stakeholders regarding shared permitting priorities.

The National Taxpayers Union and Ceres discussed bipartisan perspectives on Environmental, Social, and Governance-based (ESG) investing with Caucus staffers.

• Staffers met in early June for a bipartisan discussion on Environmental, Social, and Governance-based (ESG) investing with the National Taxpayers Union and Ceres. This served as an opportunity for Caucus staffers to hear from organizations on the center-right and center-left sides of the issue regarding the importance of taking all material financial risks and opportunities into account as well as policy developments at the state and federal level.
• Co-Chair Houlahan championed several bipartisan energy security provisions within the FY25 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that safeguard critical energy infrastructure and ensure personnel readiness in the wake of extreme weather and other risks. Several of these bipartisan provisions were cosponsored by Caucus Members. These efforts include:
• Directing the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with Department of Energy, to provide HASC with a briefing on how to use the Defense Production Act to support power and distribution transformer supply chains. Caucus Members Don Bacon (R-NE) and Jack Bergman (R-MI) cosponsored this initiative as well as Reps. McClain (R-MI) and Veasey (D-TX).

• Extending the Department of Defense (DOD) requirement to perform black exercises at military installations through 2032. These exercises cut off power from outside the military installation for 8-12 hours so that system and operation vulnerabilities can be identified. Information gathered through these assessments, including suggested solutions and authorized funding streams available to address them, are incorporated into DOD energy plans and enable the agency to take direct action to remedy them. Caucus Member Don Bacon (R-MI) and Reps. McClain (R-MI), and Wittman (R-VA) cosponsored this initiative. 
• Directing the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing to HASC on the progress that the DOD has met statutory requirements that by 2030, 100% of the energy load required to maintain critical missions at each military installation will be available 99.9% of the time. In addition, Co-Chair Houlahan’s amendment adjusted the interim reporting deadline on the DOD’s ability to achieve this 2030 goal from 2029 to 2027 so that Congress can take additional action to support the agency if it is not on track to meet its goal. Caucus Member Don Bacon (R-MI) and Reps. McClain (R-MI), and Wittman (R-VA) cosponsored this initiative.
• Reinstating eligibility of nonprofit energy cooperatives under the DOD’s Defense Communities Infrastructure Program, allowing electric cooperatives to access grant funding to improve grid infrastructure, harden systems, and build energy resiliency that supports the mission-critical functions of military partners. Caucus Member Bacon (R-NE) cosponsored this initiative.
• Directing the DOD to report to HASC on the impacts of a lack of electrical grid reliability and transmission on operational and personnel readiness within and outside of military installation fence lines. 
• Directing the National Defense Stockpile Manager to procure strategic and critical materials from domestic sources to the maximum extent practicable.

• Authorizing an additional $5 million for the DOD’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, a research, development, demonstration, and validation program that is designed to accelerate technologies supporting mission critical activities and improving energy resilience on military installations in response to physical and adversarial threats.

Looking Ahead:

In July, Members plan to gather for a discussion on bolstering the clean energy workforce.

Caucus staffers plan to meet twice in July for 1) a briefing with trade associations, advocacy groups, and private sector partners on clean, firm, baseload power generation sources and 2) a briefing on the Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office’s State Energy Financing Institution which helps states deploy commercial clean energy technologies.

As always, stakeholders are encouraged to approach the Climate Solutions Caucus with priorities and engagement ideas as the 2024 programmatic calendar continues to develop. 

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Niko Keddy with Co-Chair Garbarino (Niko.Keddy@mail.house.gov) or Ingrid Izaguirre (Ingrid.Izaguirre@mail.house.gov) and Harrison Jumper (Harrison.Jumper@mail.house.gov) with Co-Chair Houlahan.