The $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package, which must be passed to avoid a government shutdown, will spend billions of taxpayer dollars to combat the “climate crisis.”
The 4,155-page 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act will set aside at least $6 billion to fight climate change by investing in green energy projects as well as funding climate change research and “environmental justice” initiatives; additionally, the Department of Defense (DOD) will receive more than $2 billion to mitigate climate risks. Democratic House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro touted the measures that are intended to “tackle the climate crisis” in a summary of the bill that outlined her party’s “victories.” (RELATED: House Democrats Pressure Biden Admin To Embrace Climate Reparations)
The Energy Department will receive a record-high $3.5 billion to support renewable energy developments and energy efficiency upgrades, which is $260 million more than it received in fiscal year 2022. The bill will also hand out $890 million worth of taxpayer money to expand the deployment of carbon capture and storage technology, equipment that can remove fossil fuel emissions from the atmosphere.
Outgoing US Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, and wife Marcelle (L), in the US Capitol after Leahy made his farewell speech on the Senate floor in Washington, DC on December 20, 2022. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The bill will give the Department of Defense just under $2.1 billion for construction projects that seek to protect military facilities from climate change, natural disasters and rising sea levels.
The Environmental Protection Agency will be given roughly $108 million to prioritize pollution removal in “historically disadvantaged communities” to further “environmental justice” efforts. The agency will also receive $613 million to bankroll the agency’s enforcement and compliance operations as well as $100 million to help cut diesel emissions.
The spending package also includes nearly $1 billion under the 2023 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act to help developing nations adapt to the risks posed by global warming. In September 2021, President Joe Biden promised the United Nations that the U.S. would hand out $11.4 billion worth of global climate aid annually by 2024.
Biden considers climate change to be an existential threat to humanity and has pushed the U.S. to expand green energy production in hopes of helping the U.S. produce “net zero” emissions by 2050, in accordance with international climate targets.
In addition to the billions allocated for climate programs, the spending package will put a minimum of $575 million towards “family planning” and “reproductive health,” including in areas where population growth “threatens biodiversity.”
Although the bill allocates over $1.56 billion in taxpayer money to Customs and Border Protection for “Operations and Support,” the money can’t be used to expand border security measures that stop illegal immigrants from crossing into the U.S.
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