Ahead of climate conference, U.S. House panel tussles over curbs on emissions

Republicans on a U.S. House panel argued Wednesday against aggressive moves to meet carbon reduction goals, saying U.S. fossil fuel companies are working to make their products cleaner.

Democrats on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment, Manufacturing and Critical Minerals countered that to achieve further reductions, federal policies should be continued to encourage the development of renewable energy and consumer products such as electric vehicles.

Coming the day before the 28th annual United Nations climate conference was set to begin, members of the panel battled over the U.S. role in curbing emissions. The conference is often a venue for world leaders to discuss global solutions to climate change. President Joe Biden is not scheduled to attend this year’s conference.

Republicans argued that the United States was not as problematic for emissions as countries like China and should be allowed to continue developing cleaner uses of oil and gas, downplaying the need to transition away from those fuels.