The end-of-the-year spendingpackagepassed by Congress on Dec. 21 includes the first major energy legislation to be enacted in more than a decade.

广泛的包裹扩展并引入了可再生能源和碳捕获和固存项目的新税收抵免，并为替代能源，核电，能源存储和智能电网技术的研究和演示工作提供了数十亿美元的资金。18luck官网

President Donald Trump signed the bill on Dec. 27 after initially saying he would not, objecting to the level of COVID-19 related funding for individuals or small businesses also included in the legislation..

综合还包括udes provisions for a 15-year hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phasedown, lowering production and consumption of the substances by 2036 to 15% of the annual average between 2011 and 2013. HFCs are greenhouse gasses used in refrigeration, air conditioners and insulation foam, among other products. Replacing HFCs “can avoid as much as another 0.5° C warming by the end of the century,” according to a新利luck在大气化学和物理学中。

两党的能源措施受到能源群体以及美国商会的赞誉。室内政策高级副总裁马蒂·杜宾（Marty Durmin）在一份声明中说：“我们知道，技术的开发和商业化是最重要的因素，它将确定世界各地可以减少温室气体排放的速度和成本。”。“如果没有开发和部署实现该技术必不可少的技术，则没有排放目标或学位目标。”

But others were not so pleased. In particular, union sources say they were deeply disappointed that Congress extended the production tax credit for wind projects and an investment tax credit that did not include Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage standards that unions favored.

“Congress could not see fit to hold the line on consistent application of labor standards that help all construction workers maintain a middle-class standard of living,” North America’s Building Trades Unions President Sean McGarvey said in a Dec. 21陈述。

一些环境团体也感到不满，该措施的规定继续支持化石燃料，包括在部落土地上开采的煤炭的生产税收抵免和研究资金以开发高效燃气轮机。

自然资源国防委员会政府事务董事总经理约翰·鲍曼（John Bowman）在一份声明中说：“该法案是一个混合的包，因为该规定可以支撑肮脏的燃料和不安全的技术。”

Abigail Hopper, CEO of the Solar Energy Industry Association, said in a call Dec. 22 that passage of the measure is promising for future renewable energy legislation under a Biden Administration. The group says continuation of the tax credits is worth billions of dollars to the solar industry.

税务信誉its for land-based wind power projects were extended for two years at 60% of their full value. The investment tax credit for solar power was extended for two years at 26%. The legislation also institutes a new 30% investment tax credit for offshore wind projects.

能源措施还提高了联邦建筑物的能源和水效率，并为学校提供效率援助，但不包括节能的建筑法规，这些建筑法规浮动在早期版本的能源立法中。

化石燃料行业的主要贸易集团（美国石油研究所）是该法案的秘书。

“We urge the president to swiftly sign this bill into law, and we encourage the next Congress and incoming administration to continue to focus on bipartisan climate solutions like [carbon capture utilization and storage], which can reduce GHG emissions from multiple industry sectors and sources and that help build on the progress the natural gas and oil industry is making in improving environmental performance,” Stephen Comstock, API vice president of corporate policy. said in a statement.

综合法案还授权到2023年对管道和危险材料安全管理的拨款。

Long-Awaited HFC Measure

The HFC provision is in line with the international Kigali agreement to lower consumption of the substances, which the U.S. failed to ratify after President Trump took office. Areportfrom the University of Maryland found that 33,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs could have been created directly by signing on to the agreement.

能源和商业主席弗兰克·帕洛内（Frank Pallone Jr.）说：“在灾难性气候变化的潮流中，逐步淘汰HFC是国会有史以来最重要的行动之一。”Paul Tonko（D-NY）主席在一份联合声明中。“通过这项行动，美国将带领世界避免变暖的0.5°摄氏度。”

Stephen Yurek, president and CEO of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, said in a statement: “Our industry has been working toward this goal for more than 10 years and it is very exciting to see our vision of an HFC phasedown reach the home stretch."

Union Objections

The building trades had wanted Congress to postpone consideration of the tax credit extensions until the new Congress took office in early January.. The energy sector is critically important to construction unions—more than 50% of the building trades’ total job-hours come from the energy industry, a union source said, adding: “We absolutely do not think that you have to sacrifice jobs to help the environment.”

从历史上看，戴维斯 - 巴肯（Davis-Bacon）盛行的工资要求和其他标准的核心是借鉴了直接联邦支出的项目。18luck官网但是建筑交易表示，他们没有在通过直接联邦拨款资助的项目和使用联邦税法中包含的激励措施的项目之间进行区分。

According to the building trades, In sections of the energy measure, some programs do have prevailing-wage coverage, including wind and solar energy research and development for carbon removal and carbon storage. But others do not, such as in fossil energy, carbon capture and carbon utilization programs and nuclear energy research.

One key House lawmaker, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), seems sympathetic to the unions’ view. “In the years to come, future extensions of federal support for green energy and energy-efficiency incentives must be accompanied by a commitment to strong labor standards and worker protections.” he said in a Dec. 21陈述,

The unions say the renewables business is largely nonunion. But NABTU did reachagreementlast month on a national “framework” with wind energy developer Ørsted.

For company projects off the East Coast, the agreement calls for a joint effort to match skills needed to expand the offshore wind construction workforce with such factors as workers availability, schedules, scope of work and certification.