On the Hill in 2021: A Breakdown of Climate, Environmental, and Energy Congressional Hearings | Article

Congress held a total of 187 hearings on climate, environmental, and energy topics in 2021. This was significantly more than the 79 hearings Congress held in 2020, due both to Congress and the Administration prioritizing environmental and energy issues this year and to fewer disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed Congress’s hearing schedule last year.

Of the 187 hearings, 57 were in the Senate and 130 in the House. The House Committee on Natural Resources held the most hearings this year with a total of 28. This was followed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which held 20 hearings, and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, which held 19 hearings. In total, 14 House committees and 10 Senate committees held hearings on environmental, energy, and climate topics in 2021.

Using EESI’s coverage of legislation and Congressional hearings, this article analyzes the policies and issue areas Congress explored this year. At the end of the article, we provide a list of the 187 hearings included in this year’s hearing count.

Visualization of 2021 Congressional hearings on climate, environment, and energy topics

Hover over the bubbles to see the chamber, committee, and other information.

Historic Climate Proposals and Investments

Congress kicked off 2021 with discussions on spurring federal climate action with two hearings in early February—among the first hearings held in the 117th Congress. The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing to examine global trends and progress in addressing climate change. In the House, the Energy and Commerce Committee explored how federal climate policies can promote American workforce opportunities and drive decarbonization. Read more about these two hearings here.

The Climate Leadership and Environmental Action for our Nation’s Future Act (CLEAN Future Act) was officially introduced in Congress in March 2021. As explained in EESI’s article, the bill would move the United States towards a clean energy economy by establishing a nationwide 100 percent clean electricity standard by 2035 and put a down payment on a national climate bank, initiatives that were taken up later in the year in some iterations of the Build Back Better package. Seven of 16 Energy and Commerce Committee hearings in 2021 were related to the CLEAN Future Act.

EESI wrote an article on one of these hearings, "The CLEAN Future Act: Industrial Climate Policies to Create Jobs and Support Working Communities," during which committee members and witnesses outlined key steps the federal government can take to bolster industrial decarbonization; invest in clean manufacturing infrastructure that would promote American competitiveness and create good-paying union jobs; and support workers and communities impacted by the transition to a clean energy economy.

As the year progressed, Congress considered historic climate legislation. The Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376) would invest in clean energy, environmental restoration, and environmental justice. The House passed the bill in November 2021. Several committees in both chambers of Congress held hearings related to the legislation. The House Committee on Natural Resources held hearings on how it would:

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works also held hearings on how the Build Back Better Act would invest in sustainable transportation and address climate change in the electricity sector. Additional hearings on the topic included a House Oversight and Reform hearing, a House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing, and a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing.

Notably, the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L.117-58) became law in 2021. As highlighted in EESI’s media statemen t, the law will invest in modernizing the energy grid; boosting energy efficiency in our homes, schools, and commercial buildings; accelerating the pace of electrification in the transportation sector; helping communities prepare for and withstand climate change impacts; and expanding broadband internet access—an important facilitator for many climate change solutions—in low-income communities and rural areas, as described in EESI’s issue brief on the topic.

From COP26 to Coal Communities and Climate-Smart Agriculture

The House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis held 11 hearings in 2021 on topics ranging from building climate resilient communities and advancing climate justice to modernizing the electric grid. Ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), the Select Committee held a hearing to explore the importance of international climate action, which EESI wrote about in this article.

Coal was another focus in Congress this year. The House Committee on Natural Resources held two oversight hearings, Environmental Justice for Coal Country: Supporting Communities Through the Energy Transition and The Federal Coal Program: A Bad Deal for Taxpayers and a Threat to Climate. Also on coal, the American Jobs in Energy Manufacturing Act of 2021 (S.622) was introduced in the Senate. It would provide $8 billion in tax credits to spur domestic clean energy manufacturing while supporting targeted job creation in coal communities that have experienced a significant decline in employment over the last decade. Read more about the bill in EESI’s article.

On the topic of sustainable agriculture, the House Committee on Agriculture held several hearings related to the climate change and agriculture nexus. One hearing, which EESI wrote about here, explored climate-smart agriculture practices and conservation programs within Title II of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, also known as the Farm Bill.

Other topics examined during hearings this year include the circular economy, which was discussed during a Senate Environment and Public Works hearing, and the drought in the Colorado River Basin, explored during a two-day House Natural Resources Committee hearing. Read more about these issues in EESI’s articles on the circular economy and the Colorado River Basin.

This year’s hearings demonstrated that Congress had an increased focus on the climate crisis in 2021. Congressional committees explored how the federal government can spur clean energy, address environmental injustices, and drive decarbonization. Continuing to prioritize and act on these issues and opportunities will be a crucial task for the rest of the 117th Congress and beyond.

This article is up-to-date as of December 17, 2021. Legislative, budget, and nomination hearings are not included in the hearing totals.

Author: Savannah Bertrand

Find a list of all of the climate, environmental, and energy Congressional hearings here.