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Congressional Democrats are attempting to sneak a provision pulled directly from the Green New Deal into a sprawling energy package expected to be attached to the Omnibus spending deal.

According to a draft version of the energy package, Section 11003 calls for meeting 100 percent of the U.S.’s power demand through “clean, renewable, or zero-emission energy sources,” seemingly leaving no room for traditional and affordable forms of energy. 

Here it is straight from the bill’s text:

It is the sense of Congress that in order to reduce emissions and meet 100 percent of the power demand in the United States through clean, renewable, or zero-emission energy sources while maintaining United States leadership in science and technology, the secretary of Energy must prioritize funding for critical fundamental research infrastructure and for basic research and development activities carried out through the Office of Science.

Now compare that to the text of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal resolution which calls for “meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the United States through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources…

If the text of the energy deal and that of the Green New Deal appear identical, it’s because they are. The only difference is that legislative drafters changed “and” to “or” for inclusion in the energy package.

While terms such as “clean energy” are deliberately left undefined and vague by legislative drafters, an overview of the Green New Deal released by the bill’s sponsors made clear that the resolution’s intent is the elimination of fossil fuels and nuclear power.

Radical policies calling for an end to the use of traditional forms of energy would have a disastrous impact on the American energy industry and dramatically raise energy costs for American consumers. This provision is terrible energy policy and has nothing to do with aiding the response to the Coronavirus pandemic or funding the government.

Americans for Tax Reform urges lawmakers to strike this section entirely from any spending deal.