White House Comments Clean Energy Mandate

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who recently spoke directly to ASME members during the inaugural ASME Policy Impact event, recently publicized that the Biden administration will only back the inclusion of natural gas in it’s clean energy mandate if its coupled with carbon sequestration. “I think that if you combined natural gas with carbon removal so that it was really clean and that you had zero carbon emissions, it could be [included in the administration’s Clean Energy Standard Act],” Granholm said. Last month, presidential climate adviser Gina McCarthy also shared that the administration supports nuclear energy as part of the national clean energy mandate.

Earlier this month McCarthy said some ambitious proposals to fight climate change might not make it into the final infrastructure package working its way through Congress but assured the audience that the administration would continue to fight for policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

On June 15, 2021, Secretary Granholm testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on the President’s FY 2022 Budget Request for the Department of Energy. In her written testimony, its clear that nuclear is among the administration’s priorities for implementing the clean energy agenda, while natural gas goes unmentioned.

Her written testimony states, “Within DOE, the budget request invests more than $8 billion for applied energy programs with a focus on clean energy and climate innovation. From investing in advanced nuclear, electric vehicles, and an Energy Earthshots Initiative, to funding innovative approaches to air conditioning and refrigeration, the FY 2022 request puts the Nation on a path to quadruple clean energy research in four years, emphasizing U.S. pre-eminence in innovating the technologies needed to tackle the climate crisis.” The President’s Budget would invest $1.851 billion for the Office of Nuclear Energy, a 23% increase over FY 2021 funding levels.