(WASHINGTON, DC) -- The business community is aiming to
counter the Green New Deal with an energy innovation agenda, launching a major
new campaign on Thursday to persuade the public and Congress that technology is
better than regulation in addressing climate change.
The Chamber of Commerce’s energy arm, the Global Energy
Institute, launched the “American Energy: Cleaner, Stronger” campaign with
polling data showing that the majority of Americans prefer investments in new
innovative energy technologies to mandates like those in the Green New Deal.
“As part of GEI’s new initiative, we will highlight the
technologies, people and companies that make investments in our nation’s energy
sector that spur continued economic growth and environmental progress,” the
Institute said.
The plan has bipartisan support, based on the polling the
Institute released Thursday to back up the new initiative.
The “Cleaner, Stronger Agenda” is supported by 73 percent of
voters compared to 23 percent who support the Green New Deal. Democrats also
support the Cleaner, Stronger agenda, with 96 percent of Democrats saying they
are willing to vote for candidates that back the innovation agenda.
Christopher Guith, the recently appointed acting president
of the Institute, told John that Americans are concerned about climate change,
but they overwhelmingly support a plan to innovate if the alternative is
enacting regulations that will drive up prices.
Legislation in the queue: He said in the coming weeks, there
will be legislative proposals pushed by the initiative to demonstrate the
innovative agenda.
Some examples include recent legislation that passed the
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that supports carbon capture
technology for power plants.
The bipartisan USE IT Act that passed the committee on
Wednesday would invest $50 million to research carbon capture and utilization
technologies that would trap carbon from industrial facilities and reuse it for
commercial products.
Getting aggressive when it comes to lobbying: The Institute will
also be launching a “very aggressive lobbying campaign” on Capitol Hill and
with the Trump administration for them to embrace the Cleaner, Stronger agenda.
The lobbying initiative will also feature television ads.
Trump’s executive order gets recognized under agenda:
Interestingly, the poll also asked voters whether they supported the executive
orders issued by the president on Wednesday to speed up pipeline development by
restricting the use of the law by states to oppose energy infrastructure.
The polling data showed that 79 percent of voters support
the executive order, which the Chamber sees as fitting into its proposal.
Guith said the president’s actions represent meaningful
progress to address some of the most pressing issues that commonly result in
permitting delays, and the Chamber applauds the Trump Administration for
tackling the problem.
