The president recently signed into law the long-awaited infrastructure bill. However, according to Congressman Bill Johnson, the $1.2 trillion bill had “very little” to do with actual infrastructure.

When it comes to climate policy in the U.S., it might appear that there are only two options: you’re either for or against oil and gas.

“This idea that there are Republican fuels in energy and Democrat fuels in energy has really stalled any kind of progress and advancement in solving a very large, global issue,” said Heather Reams, executive director of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES).

Reams recently joined Energy Policy Watch for a frank discussion on a bipartisan approach to strong energy and climate policies. “I think it’s time to stop the rhetoric and start inviting Republicans to the table,” she told host Jack Belcher.

CRES is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit focusing on engaging Republican policymakers and the public about responsible, conservative solutions to address our nation’s energy, economic and environmental security while increasing the U.S.’s competitive edge.

This year is proving especially critical for the U.S. oil and gas industry with the budget reconciliation bill moving through the House, which could be harmful to oil and gas companies and the economy more broadly.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas, 8th) recently joined Jack Belcher on Energy Policy Watch for a discussion on the budget reconciliation bill, including a repeal of oil and gas tax incentives plus unprecedented tax hikes.

The White House is proposing $145 billion of tax hikes, which according to Brady, land on everyone within the industry, from the smallest producers to all the way up the chain.

The oil and gas industry is facing many challenges on the public policy front, including the Biden administration’s push to transform the U.S. power sector into an engine of clean energy growth.

However, it will be the oilfield services (OFS) sector that plays a critical role in this energy transition, according to Leslie Beyer, CEO of the Energy Workforce & Technology Council, as renewables are missing key technologies needed for an immediate shift.

Government reports show that pipelines are the safest mode of transportation of moving oil—and only getting safer.

However, these facts appear to largely have been ignored by the seemingly growing opposition to pipelines. Perhaps, there is no better example of this than the executive order made by President Joe Biden earlier this year revoking the Keystone XL pipeline permit—effectively killing the project.

The growing energy transition trend has garnered a lot of attention—and capital—as the global push for decarbonization increases in recent years.

However, it has become clear that the widely used term has come to mean different things to different people, which is the crux to many of the challenges arising from the transition, according to Thomas J. McNulty, ValueScope principal and head of its energy practice.

“Regardless of where you stand on the climate issue, the transition has to happen in such a way that it works physically,” McNulty said during the latest episode of Energy Policy Watch.

The 87th Texas Legislative session concluded on May 31 and, as usual, there was a lot of left to decipher and analyze throughout the summer months. This year’s session; however, was not so usual. As Martin Hubert, principal, senior vice president and counsel at Cornerstone Government Affairs, working in the firm’s Austin office, pointed out in this episode of Energy Policy Watch, this year’s session was made quite a bit challenging by COVID-19 and the Texas winter storm and power outages.  

Coming on the heels of a national power change in the White House and in Congress, the Texas Legislature engages in what has been described as its most conservative session ever, according to Hubert.  A number of bills passed through the session on religious, social and business issues that were championed by the conservative majority, Hubert told his colleague Jack Belcher.

Hubert had several other insights into the session and discussed them in more detail with Belcher for this episode.

Jump to topic:

• A new budget for the State of Texas (2:11)
• Bills to reform ERCOT (3:12)
• Addressing natural gas issues during the power outages (4:23)
• Eminent Domain legislation (5:21)
• Carbon capture and storage (CCUS) (6:48)
• Methane emissions and flaring (8:12)
• Oil and gas provisions that were addressed by the legislature (8:47)
• Minimizing federal policy effects on Texas oil and gas (10:48)