Will fossil fuel production limits help reverse climate change?

by Zack Budryk and Rachel Frazin - 03/04/24 7:03 PM ET

Energy & Environment

The Big Story

Will fossil fuel production limits help reverse climate change?

Climate activists opposed to new fossil fuel projects are often met with counterarguments from the right and center which argue that if the U.S. doesn’t produce fossil fuels, someone else will. Or, in the case of natural gas, it will be replaced by even-dirtier energy created by coal. So, who’s right?

The truth is complicated. Some economists argue that policies that reduce our demand for, rather than supply of, planet-warming fossil fuels are more effective. But such policies are also imperfect and politically difficult.

The use of fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas — is the main driver of climate change, which in turn contributes to more frequent and intense storms and flooding, as well as droughts, fires and food insecurity.

Climate policies can take several forms, including those that try to limit fossil fuel supply and those that try to reduce our need for such energy sources.

Renewable energy tax credits, mandated shifts to climate-friendly power sources and making homes, buildings and transportation more energy efficient reduce the need for fossil fuels.

Limiting supply involves policies such as curbing how much fuel can be produced or exported or blocking specific fossil fuel projects.

Supply-side policies are often the ones in the news. Climate activists have excoriated the Biden administration for its approval of the Willow Project, a ConocoPhillips oil drilling venture in Alaska.

The project is expected to produce 576 million barrels of oil — generating 239 million metric tons — over a 30-year period.

Read more at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.

Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Get on the mini bus!

Lawmakers released compromise funding packages for EPA, Interior and Energy on Sunday. Here’s what you should know:

Republicans are touting what they’re describing as a 9.6 percent cut to the EPA’s budget – but a large chunk of that comes out of a program that has a new, mandatory funding source.

The Superfund program, which cleans up hazardous waste sites, saw significantly fewer discretionary dollars in the bill. But, the program is expected to also be funded by reinstated taxes on corporate polluters.
Senate Democrats, in their fact sheet, said that the bill “maintains current staffing levels across all EPA programs.“

Some notable cuts and gains:

Energy and Water bill: An overall 2 percent cut in non-defense programs but a 6 percent rise for defense spending.
The National Park Service: An approximately 4 percent cut.
The Interior Department’s Office of Wildland Fire Management: An approximate 68 percent increase.

The funding bill also provides up to 2.72 billion to bolster nuclear energy.
It seeks to prevent U.S. energy or resources from going to China, including prohibiting the Energy Department from providing money to an “entity of concern” and by prohibiting sales of strategic reserve oil to the nation (though the oil market is largely global and analysts have said preventing it from accessing this oil is unlikely to have significant impacts).

Essential Reads

How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future:

Nonprofit creates ‘Bechdel test for climate change’

A climate script consultancy has introduced a variation on the “Bechdel test,” a measure of women’s interactions in film, for climate change.

Full Story

Hawley: Senate will vote on standalone expansion of radiation compensation law this week

The Senate will vote this week on a standalone measure to expand and reauthorize the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) after amendments to expand it failed to pass, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told reporters on a call Monday afternoon.

Full Story

Texas firefighters battle massive blaze before wind gusts return

Firefighters in the Texas Panhandle scrambled Monday to contain massive wildfires that have already scorched a record-breaking 1.3 million acres in the Lone Star State and forced the evacuation of an entire town.

Full Story

In Other News

Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

Kerry to leave climate envoy job Wednesday

Climate envoy John Kerry will be leaving his Biden administration role this week.

Full Story

What We’re Reading

News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics:

This Lithium Mine May Launch the U.S. to Battery Dominance (The Daily Beast)
How to ‘decouple’ emissions from economic growth? These economists say you can’t. (Grist)
Forest Investors Debate What to Do With All Their Trees: Timber or Carbon Credits? (The Wall Street Journal)

What Others are Reading

Two key stories on The Hill right now:

Barrett joins liberal justices on Trump ballot ban ruling going too far

Former President Trump pulled out an unanimous victory at the Supreme Court on Monday in his historic ballot ban case that invoked the 14th Amendment, but a 5-4 division among the justices emerged beneath the surface — joined by one of his own nominees. Read more

Durbin says Supreme Court’s decision to take up Trump’s immunity ‘disappointment’ for delaying case

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday criticized the Supreme Court’s decision last week to take up former President Trump’s immunity appeal because it delays the start of the former president’s federal Jan. 6 trial. Read more