Chair Castor Lauds Passage of CHIPS and Science Act

WASHINGTON (July 28, 2022) – Chair Kathy Castor of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released the following statement on Thursday after the House of Representatives passed the CHIPS and Science Act:

“The CHIPS and Science Act is another big step in our fight to lower energy costs and reduce America’s dependence on expensive fossil fuels,” said Chair Castor. “By empowering America's industries to produce the semiconductor chips that are essential to our clean energy transition, we will ensure the United States remains competitive in the global market, limiting our dependence on countries like China and addressing supply chain issues for critical technologies. Importantly, we will also modernize our approach to challenges posed by the climate emergency, including risks to our economy, national security, and energy independence.

“The CHIPS and Science Act invests in the best of American innovation and the strong spirit of the U.S. workforce. Through critical new funding, we will advance research to expand clean energy, modernize our grid, develop carbon removal and clean industrial technologies, and reach new frontiers in the fields of climate science, clean water systems, and critical minerals. This legislation will also benefit environmental justice communities, with investments to build regional technology hubs, expand grants to economically-distressed local communities and labor markets, and diversify our thriving STEM workforce.

“We know that solving the climate crisis will require that we follow the science on our path to net zero. That’s why the CHIPS and Science Act includes critical resources and initiatives for our science agencies, including funding to monitor and research ocean acidification, incentivize technologies that will reduce pollution from aviation, and identify best practices for measuring greenhouse gases.

“I’m proud of this victory in Congress. And I’m grateful for President Biden’s leadership, as we invest in the clean technologies that will strengthen our economic security and help us win the 21st century.”

Climate and clean energy related provisions in the CHIPS and Science Act include: 

• Nearly $55 billion for semiconductor chips, which are increasingly essential components of electric vehicle, building electrification, renewable energy, and electric transmission technologies;
• More than $11 billion to Department of Energy research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) activities in key areas such as clean energy, grid modernization, advanced materials, clean industrial technologies, carbon removal, and more;
• An expansion of the greenhouse gas measurement program under the National Institute of Standards and Technology, including the development of best practices for measuring greenhouse gases, the establishment of a Center for Greenhouse Gas Measurements, Standards, and Information, and supports sustainable chemistry alternatives to traditional chemical products and processes;
• Research funding opportunities under the National Science Foundation for innovative solutions and technology in climate change science, the food-energy-water system, clean water systems, critical minerals, and risk and resilience issues;
• $11 billion in advancing regional technology hubs;
• $1 billion in the RECOMPETE grant program to assist economically-distressed local communities and labor markets that meet specified economic criteria;
• Funding for diversifying the U.S. STEM workforce to be inclusive;
• Advancement of research and monitoring programs for ocean acidification, including coordinating federal agency activities and developing a strategic research plan to address the impacts of ocean acidification on communities, economies, and marine ecosystems;
• New earth observation data collection systems under the National Aeronautics Space Administration, and a new initiative that will incentivize new technology development to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from aviation, with the goal to achieve net zero GHGs from aircraft by 2050;
• Identifies climate change as a key national challenge along with national security; increasing domestic manufacturing; workforce development; and advancing equitable access to education and opportunity; and
• The creation of a national science and technology strategy that will address, among other things, the transition to a circular economy.

 
Background:

• In June of 2020, the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Democrats released the majority staff report Solving the Climate Crisis: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America. This report provides a roadmap for Congress—a Climate Crisis Action Plan—to build a prosperous, clean energy economy that values workers, advances environmental justice, and is prepared to meet the challenges of the climate crisis.
• House Democrats have already passed more than 400 of the recommendations in the Climate Crisis Action Plan, and have successfully worked to turn over 200 of them into law.