Handicapping the midterm election scenarios for Biden's climate policy

If Republicans make gains in Congress, expect less heat on Big Oil, more scrutiny of clean tech subsidies -- and a few opportunities for bipartisan cooperation.

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Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY 12th District) chairs a House oversight hearing Sept. 15 titled ‘Fueling the Climate Crisis: Examining Big Oil’s Prices, Profits, and Pledges.’

(Bill Sternberg is a veteran Washington journalist and former editorial page editor of USA Today.)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Callaway Climate Insights) — Two events here in the nation’s capital this month underscored how important congressional elections are to U.S. climate policy.

On Tuesday, Sept. 13, hundreds of environmental activists gathered at the White House to celebrate enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act, which contains the nation’s biggest-ever investment to combat climate change. The IRA passed the Democratic-controlled House and Senate by slender, party-line margins; had there been just one more Republican senator, the $370 billion in green investments and tax credits would have never become law. “Thank goodness the Inflation Reduction Act passed before the midterms,” Kristin Eberhard, director of climate policy at the Niskanen Center think tank, told me. “It’s a big step under our belts.”