Chairman “Frack” Pallone opens door for natural gas, false climate solutions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Chairman Frank Pallone of the House Energy and Commerce Committee today unveiled a draft of the CLEAN Future Act, a bill to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The legislation proposes to address electricity sector carbon emissions with a clean energy standard structured around an emissions trading system.

The proposed starting target for the clean energy standard, 0.82 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per megawatt hour, is lax enough to protect fracked gas and other false solutions for years to come.

A recent analysis from Friends of the Earth and the Partnership for Policy Integrity analyzes the risks posed to communities and the climate by setting the rate between .40 and .82 metric tons of CO2 per MWh.

Friends of the Earth senior policy analyst Lukas Ross issued the following statement in response:

Chairman Pallone needs to do far more to protect communities and the climate. The proposed starting point for his clean electricity standard is startlingly high. Fossil fuels must be kept in the ground, not kept in business. Emissions trading schemes and other market gimmicks are unjust and ineffective.

Pallone is posing as an environmentalist, while trying to keep the door wide open for fracked gas. This is the opposite of climate leadership.

Expert contact: Lukas Ross, (202) 222-0724, [email protected]
Communications contact: Erin Jensen, (202) 222-0722, [email protected]