Senate hearing probes COVID-19 impact on energy industry

The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee conducted a hearing to look at how COVID-19 has affected the energy industry.

Ranking member Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) discussed how his bill, the American Energy Innovation Act can help revitalize the energy sector. The American Energy Innovation Act (AEIA) seeks to modernize energy laws to ensure the United States remains a global energy leader while also strengthening national security, increasing international competitiveness, and investing in clean energy technologies.

“We’re expecting a 14% drop in U.S. CO2 emissions from the energy sector in 2020 – the largest drop ever – but emissions will begin to bounce back as our country reopens. Our bipartisan American Energy Innovation Act provides over $24 billion in authorization for an energy innovation roadmap to advance critical technologies like CCUS and energy storage with needed research and development but also with deployment dollars to get these technologies in the ground,” Manchin said. “We have the bipartisan framework in our energy bill, and I believe that good work can be complemented with additional, targeted investment in light of the changes in the intervening months to help the energy sector recover, put people back to work, and also advance our clean energy goals.”

Lisa Jacobson, president of the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, also spoke at the hearing. She praised the American Energy Innovation Act.

“When I think about the American Energy Innovation Act, there are many opportunities to create market demand and combining that with things like new tax incentives to promote manufacturing here at home,” Jacobson said. “This bill is a foundational set of policies. We know that it has strong bipartisan support. The breadth of technologies and industry sectors it would impact is quite remarkable and extremely valuable at this time.”

There was also expert testimony from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, International Energy Agency, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, American Petroleum Institute, and the National Association of State Utility Advocates.