McMorris Rodgers requests federal assessment of Biden’s GHG emissions targets

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) recently requested that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) analyze the Biden administration’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets announced by the president during the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate in April.

“When Congress and the public are presented with major, transformative policy proposals, it is important that we work to assess and understand their potential implications. EIA has a responsibility to assist policymakers in this effort,” wrote Rep. McMorris Rodgers and U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) in a May 27 letter sent to EIA Acting Administrator Stephen Nalley.

At the two-day April summit meeting, President Biden set a target in his Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of reducing net United States GHG emissions 50 percent from the 2005 level by 2030 with the aim of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Rep. McMorris Rodgers, who serves as ranking member of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Sen. Barrasso, the ranking member on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, expressed concern with the impact that these emissions targets would have on America’s economy.

“Given the uncertainty concerning future policies, we request that you build on your existing Annual Energy Outlook 2020 and future forecasts and run side cases using increasing carbon fees sufficient to meet these emissions targets,” the lawmakers wrote. “These alternative cases would illustrate the impact of policies that place implicit or explicit fees on carbon emissions.”

Such an analysis, they wrote, could serve as an important starting point and baseline for further analyses as the Biden administration and Congress consider various proposals.

“We ask that you work with our staff on the details of this request, which concern issues of critical importance to our energy economy,” Rep. McMorris Rodgers and her colleague wrote.