EcoWatch
Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k Subscribe Subscribe
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
      • Top Companies By State
        • California Solar Companies
        • Texas Solar Companies
        • New York Solar Companies
        • Florida Solar Companies
        • See All States
      • Top Incentives By State
        • California Solar Incentives
        • Texas Solar Incentives
        • New York Solar Incentives
        • Florida Solar Incentives
        • See All States
      • Solar Panel Costs By State
        • Solar Panel Costs in California
        • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
        • Solar Panel Costs in New York
        • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
        • See All States
      • Value of Solar by State
        • Is Solar Worth It In California?
        • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
        • Is Solar Worth It New York?
        • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
        • See All States
      • Company Reviews
        • Tesla Solar Review
        • Sunrun Solar Review
        • SunPower Solar Review
        • Vivint Solar Review
        • See All Companies
      • Common Solar Questions
        • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
        • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
        • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
        • Can You Finance Solar?
        • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
        • Payback On Solar Panels?
      • Solar Resources
        • Interactive Solar Calculator
        • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
        • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
        • Tesla Solar Roof Review
        • Cheapest Solar Panels
      • Companies Compared
        • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs SunPower
        • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
        • SunPower vs ADT Solar
EcoWatch
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Policy
  • Renewables
  • Culture
  • Science
  • Go Solar Today
    • Go Solar Today
    • Top Companies By State
      • California Solar Companies
      • Texas Solar Companies
      • New York Solar Companies
      • Florida Solar Companies
      • See All States
    • Top Incentives By State
      • California Solar Incentives
      • Texas Solar Incentives
      • New York Solar Incentives
      • Florida Solar Incentives
      • See All States
    • Solar Panel Costs By State
      • Solar Panel Costs in California
      • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
      • Solar Panel Costs in New York
      • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
      • See All States
    • Value of Solar by State
      • Is Solar Worth It In California?
      • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
      • Is Solar Worth It New York?
      • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
      • See All States
    • Company Reviews
      • Tesla Solar Review
      • Sunrun Solar Review
      • SunPower Solar Review
      • Vivint Solar Review
      • See All Companies
    • Common Solar Questions
      • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
      • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
      • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
      • Can You Finance Solar?
      • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
      • Payback On Solar Panels?
    • Solar Resources
      • Interactive Solar Calculator
      • Federal Solar Tax Credit 2023
      • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
      • Tesla Solar Roof Review
      • Cheapest Solar Panels
    • Companies Compared
      • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs SunPower
      • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
      • SunPower vs ADT Solar

The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    EcoWatch
    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 573k Twitter 238k Instagram 37k
    Home Politics

    What Congress’s 2023 Spending Package Means for Climate and Energy at Home and Abroad

    By: Olivia Rosane
    Updated: December 22, 2022
    Edited by Chris McDermott
    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon
    A meeting of the Senate Committee on Appropriations
    The Senate Committee on Appropriations. Flickr
    Why you can trust us

    Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

    In 2021, President Joe Biden promised that the U.S. would spend $11.4 billion each year by 2024 to help poorer nations transition to renewable energy and adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis.

    So far, however, U.S. lawmakers have not backed up that pledge. The latest spending allocations announced by Congress Tuesday morning included only $1 billion for international climate aid, despite the fact that the U.S. is the greatest historical contributor to the climate crisis.

    “The U.S. has promised much in terms of climate finance over the years but it’s failed to deliver on many of these promises,” Power Shift Africa founder and director Mohamed Adow said, as The New York Times reported. 

    More From EcoWatch
    • Inflation Reduction Act Rebate and Credit Guide
    • Solar Incentives and Rebates
    • Top Solar Panel Financing Options

    When Biden made his pledge at the United Nations General Assembly, he was promising to bolster an already expired promise from wealthy nations to provide $100 billion a year in climate finance to poorer nations by 2020, as Reuters reported at the time.

    “The best part is, making these ambitious investments isn’t just good climate policy, it’s a chance for each of our countries to invest in ourselves and our own future,” Biden said.

    It seems U.S. lawmakers don’t agree. The meager $1 billion was part of an omnibus spending bill allocating $1.7 trillion to fund the government through 2023, The Hill reported. The Senate Committee on Appropriations published the text early Tuesday, and lawakers are set to vote on it before Friday, when the current funding resolution expires, E&E News explained. 

    On a domestic level, the spending package does include some climate and environment wins, according to The Hill. These include:

    1.  $40.6 billion for U.S. communities recovering from extreme weather events like drought, hurricanes, flooding and wildfires, including $1 billion for Puerto Rico to rebuild its electric grid, according to E&E News.
    2. More than $10 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is $576 million more than last year.
    3. $15.1 billion for the Interior Department, which is around four percent more than last year.

    However, the small amount of international climate aid reflects a broader pattern from U.S. lawmakers, The New York Times pointed out. While in office, former President Barack Obama promised $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, a UN-backed mechanism to channel adaptation and mitigation money towards developing nations. Congress only ever provided a third of that. The current spending bill sends the fund exactly $0. 

    Democratic legislators largely blamed Republicans for the small amount of aid. Indeed, Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee released a statement in which they touted the package for rejecting “radical environmental and climate policies.”

    “Congress just bankrolled a defense bill that was $45 billion bigger than the president requested, but we failed to provide a penny to meet our commitments to the Green Climate Fund — a step that would truly help us defend our country and our planet from chaos and instability,” Democratic Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey said, as The New York Times reported.

    However, activists say it undermines the U.S. credibility as a global climate leader if the executive branch can’t follow through on international funding commitments. International climate finance was a major sticking point at the most recent UN COP27 climate conference. Beyond the pending $100 billion a year by 2020, developing countries wanted an additional fund to help with the inevitable losses and damages caused by the climate impacts it is too late to prevent. The talks did conclude with the creation of a loss and damage fund, which the U.S. supported, according to The New York Times. 

    White House National Security Council spokeswoman Saloni Sharma said the administration had also not abandoned its $11.4 billion climate adaptation and mitigation goal. 

    “We will continue to work with Congress to make achieving this goal in FY24 a reality,” she said, as The New York Times reported.

    Biden’s domestic climate agenda also took some hits in the final spending package. Lawmakers allocated more than half a billion less than he had asked for in Energy Department spending for renewable energy and energy efficiency and around two billion less for the EPA, according to The Hill.

    Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

      By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

      Olivia Rosane

      Olivia Rosane is a freelance writer and reporter with a decade’s worth of experience. She has been contributing to EcoWatch daily since 2018 and has also covered environmental themes for Treehugger, The Trouble, YES! Magazine and Real Life. She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Cambridge and a master’s in Art and Politics from Goldsmiths, University of London.
      Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

      Read More

      Exxon Wallows in Record-Breaking Profits in 2022
      What could dwarf Chevron's biggest-ever profits of $35.5 billion in
      By Climate Nexus
      Study Using AI Warns We Are 10 to 15 Years From Breaching 1.5°C Paris Agreement Goal
      A new study using artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast global
      By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
      These Artists Are Turning Their London Street Into a Solar Power Station
      The climate crisis, the energy crisis in Europe and rising
      By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

      Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

        By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

        Latest Articles

        • Exxon Wallows in Record-Breaking Profits in 2022
          by Climate Nexus
          February 1, 2023
        • Biden’s EPA Protects Alaska’s Bristol Bay From Controversial Pebble Mine
          by Olivia Rosane
          January 31, 2023
        • Study Using AI Warns We Are 10 to 15 Years From Breaching 1.5°C Paris Agreement Goal
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          January 31, 2023
        • These Artists Are Turning Their London Street Into a Solar Power Station
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          January 31, 2023
        • Emirates Successfully Tests Flying Boeing 777 Plane on Sustainable Jet Fuel
          by Paige Bennett
          January 31, 2023
        • U.S. Lawmakers Want Climate Envoy Kerry to Push Back on Naming Oil CEO as Head of COP28
          by Olivia Rosane
          January 31, 2023
        • BP Says Ukraine War and IRA Could Spur Energy Transition
          by Olivia Rosane
          January 31, 2023
        • 99% of U.S. Coal Plants Cost More to Run Than Replace With New Renewables, Study Finds
          by Climate Nexus
          January 31, 2023
        EcoWatch

        The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

          • Climate Climate
          • Animals Animals
          • Health + Wellness Health + Wellness
          • Insights + Opinion Insights + Opinion
          • Adventure Adventure
          • Oceans Oceans
          • Business Business
          • Solar Solar
          • About EcoWatch
          • Contact EcoWatch
          • EcoWatch Reviews
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy Policy
          • Learn About Solar Energy
          • Learn About Deregulated Energy
          • EcoWatch UK
          Follow Us
          Facebook 573k
          Twitter 238k
          Instagram 37k
          Subscribe Subscribe

          Experts for a healthier planet and life.

          Mentioned by:
          Learn more