The Senate of the United States approved a $37.5 billion energy and water spending bill Thursday. That’s the earliest an appropriations bill has passed the upper chamber in the last 40 years.
KYLE FELDSCHER(@KYLE_FELDSCHER) • 5/12/16 3:22 PM
The Energy and Water Appropriations Bill of 2016 sets out funding for the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, Army Corps of Engineers, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other federal agencies. It’s the first appropriations bill to pass the Senate this year. It was approved with a huge bipartisan majority, 90-8.
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Energy efficiency provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 were largely successful in expanding markets for money-saving energy-efficient products, and in creating opportunities for continued bipartisan political action on energy efficiency in later legislation. These are the results of a new report, Assessing the Harvest: Implementation of the Energy Efficiency Provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005,by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). The report documents current knowledge about the implementation of the energy efficiency provisions in this legislatiion.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., touted the bill as the earliest the Senate has passed an appropriations bill in four decades. That’s according to the Congressional Research Service. Also and the first time an energy and water appropriations bill has gone through the regular Senate process since 2009.
“What we’ve done, with the cooperation of the Senate. All in the last couple weeks. It was to pass the first Senate appropriations bill and to do it earlier than its been done in the last 40 years,” Alexander said.
Conclusion
US Senate Energy and Water funding bill did not include provisions related to the Green Claims Directive or combating greenwashing. The bill primarily focused on providing funding for policy priorities. Those were related to energy efficiency, water conservation, and renewable energy. However, it is important to note that in the future, there may be updates or changes to the bill.
