In a move to block any future attempts by President Joe Biden to assert emergency powers for the implementation of broad climate measures, Republican lawmakers Rep. August Pfluger of Texas and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia have presented new legislation, according to an exclusive report from The Daily Caller.
Unveiled on Monday, the proposed law seeks to restrict the presidential authority to use powers granted under the National Emergencies Act, the Disaster Relief and Emergencies Act, and the Public Health Service Act, specifically in response to a perceived climate change emergency.
Titled “The Real Emergencies Act,” this legislative piece is intended to act as a safeguard against any potential overuse of executive power by the president for the advancement of climate initiatives.
The impetus for this legislation arose from the vocalized support by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other progressive lawmakers for Biden to declare a national climate emergency as a means of furthering his robust climate plans.
In a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation, Pfluger expressed his satisfaction in co-sponsoring the bill with Senator Capito.
He said, “Our legislation ensures that President Biden does not abuse the power of his office to pursue his anti-American energy agenda against the will of the American people.”
He also added, “I am proud to join Senator Capito in introducing the Real Emergencies Act, which will prevent the White House from distracting from real emergencies—like skyrocketing inflation and record-high energy costs—by declaring climate change a national emergency.”
The backdrop to these developments lies in Schumer’s January 2021 assertion that a declaration of a climate emergency would permit Biden to “do many, many things under the emergency powers of the President that wouldn’t have to go through – that he could do without legislation.”
This statement came around the same time as a legislative impasse over the Inflation Reduction Act, primarily due to initial resistance from Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) also encouraged Biden to use emergency powers to address the climate crisis and “invoke authorities under the Defense Production Act and Trade Expansion Act, mobilizing domestic industry to manufacture affordable renewable energy technologies.”
In the same March 2022 document, the CPC pressed Biden to unilaterally outlaw fossil fuel leasing on federal lands and halt all crude oil exports.
After securing Manchin’s backing in July 2022, Biden was able to pass the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022.
This event happened roughly three months before the Republicans recaptured control of the House in the 2022 midterms.
It’s important to note that, during his 2019 presidential campaign, Biden pledged that his administration would “end fossil fuels.”
Previous applications of emergency powers by the Biden administration include an indefinite freeze on student loan payments and the implementation of a federal eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 crisis, Daily Caller notes.
Biden only officially concluded the declared COVID-19 national emergency in April 2023, even though he publicly recognized the pandemic’s conclusion back in September 2022.
Capito voiced her concerns to the DCNF regarding the administration’s approach to energy and environmental regulations, stating, “The Biden administration has repeatedly governed by executive overreach when it comes to energy and environmental regulations, ignoring the law and doing so without congressional approval.”
She went on to add, “The Real Emergencies Act would ensure the president cannot go further by declaring a national emergency, which would grant him more executive authority and grow the size of government all in the name of climate change.”
Read the legislation below:
