The new energy crisis is caused not by a lack of resources, but by extreme “green” policies. Under the rubrics of “combating climate change” and “ESG” (environmen­tal, social, and governance), the Biden Administration, Congress, and various states, as well as Wall Street investors, international corporations, and progressive spe­cial-interest groups, are changing America’s energy landscape. These ideologically driven policies are also directing huge amounts of money to favored interests and making America dependent on adversaries like China for energy. In the name of combating climate change, policies have been used to create an artificial energy scarcity that will require trillions of dollars in new investment, supported with taxpayer subsidies, to address a “problem” that government and special interests themselves created.

Excerpt from “Chapter 12: Department of Energy and Related Commissions” by Bernard L. McNamee from Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, Project 2025 Presidential Transition Project by The Heritage Foundation, Washington DC, USA, 2023 (pp. 363-364).

Highlighted below are the major proposals presented in Chapter 12 that place our current climate change policies at risk:

• Eliminate the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) which focuses on climate change and green subsidies and sets energy efficiency standards for appliances. If EERE cannot be eliminated, its budget should be reduced (pp 378-379). [Learn more about EERE at http://www.energy.gov/eere/office-energy-efficiency-renewable-energy%5D
• End the role of the Grid Development Office (GDO) in grid planning for the benefit of renewable energy developers and defund most of its programs (pp 380-381). [Learn more about GDO at http://www.energy.gov/gdo/grid-deployment-office%5D
• Eliminate the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) established in December 2021 “[to] deliver clean energy demonstration projects at scale in partnership with the private sector to accelerate deployment, market adoption, and the equi­table transition to a decarbonized energy system” (pp 381-382). [Learn more about OCED at http://www.energy.gov/oced/office-clean-energy-demonstrations%5D
• Eliminate the Clean Energy Corps, charged with delivering a more equitable clean energy future for the American people, by revoking funding and eliminating all positions and personnel hired under the program (p 386). [Learn more about the Clean Energy Corps at http://www.energy.gov/CleanEnergyCorps%5D

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Bernard L. McNamee is an energy and regulatory attorney with a major law firm and was formerly a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He is also the Street Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the Appalachian School of Law. In addition to serving as a Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner, McNamee has served in various senior policy and legal positions throughout his career, including at the U.S. Department of Energy, for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, and for Virginia Governor George Allen. McNamee also served four attorneys general in two states (Virginia and Texas).