How 46 At-Risk U.S. House Incumbents Voted on Climate Issues

Issue 1: Combatting Climate Change, Fighting Inflation


Voting 220 for and 207 against, the House on Aug. 12, 2022, gave final congressional approval to a Biden administration bill (HR 5376) that would make the largest-ever federal investment to curb climate change. In addition, the bill would reduce Medicare drug costs including the price of insulin for seniors; extend Affordable Care Act premium subsidies for millions of policyholders; and expand Internal Revenue Service resources for pursuing corporate and individual tax dodgers. Named the Inflation Reduction Act, the bill was projected to reduce deficit spending by $300 billion over 10 years as a result of revenue measures including a 1 per cent excise tax on corporate stock buybacks and a 15 percent minimum income tax rate for billion-dollar corporations that often paid no taxes under existing law. The bill would, in part:


• Authorize $370 billion over 10 years for climate programs including ones to reduce fossil-fuel emissions; help communities address drought and natural disasters caused by extreme weather; use tax credits to promote green technology including the manufacture of wind turbines and solar panels; and fund $7,500 tax credits for purchasing new electric vehicles and $4,000 credits for buying used ones.
• Empower Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices starting with up to 10 widely-used pharmaceuticals in 2026.
• Cap Medicare participants’ out-of-pocket drug costs at $2,000 annually while capping insulin prices under Medicare at $35 per month and giving seniors free access to vaccines.
• Authorize $80 billion for modernizing Internal Revenue Service computer systems and hiring of thousands of new IRS agents focused on collecting billions of dollars in taxes that go unpaid each year.

Floor Debate, Pro & Con

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it was passed and sent to President Biden, who signed it into law on Aug. 16, 2022.

Issue 2: Defunding Biden Orders on Climate Change

Voting 217 for and 216 against, the House on July 14, 2023, adopted an amendment to the fiscal 2024 military budget (HR 2670) that would prohibit the Department of Defense from funding seven executive orders by President Biden to respond to the global climate crisis domestically and abroad. In part, the orders are intended to cushion economic damages in areas including the disruption of supply chains; prepare for an influx of climate refugees from global hot spots; use the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to speed clean-energy construction; invoke “environmental justice” measures to reduce the disproportionate impact of air and water pollution on poor neighborhoods; and advance the administration’s goals of achieving a carbon-free U.S. electricity sector by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions for the overall economy by 2050.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin calls climate change an existential threat to U.S. security, but Republican critics, calling Biden’s orders a “fetish,” say the Pentagon’s transition from fossil fuels to green energy undermines national security. This amendment was supported by 217 of the 220 Republicans who voted and opposed by all 213 Democrats who voted. The overwhelming consensus of scientists is that climate change is caused by human activity, with the planet warming at a rate that will eventually prove ruinous to civilization if industrial nations fail to sharply reduce their discharges of greenhouse gases.

Floor Debate, Pro & Con

A yes vote was to adopt the amendment, which died in the Senate.

Issue 3: Removing Climate Studies from Turbulence Research

Voting 206 for and 227 against, the House on July 19, 2023, defeated an amendment to a Federal Aviation Administration funding bill (HR 3935) that sought to name “weather” rather than “climate change” the focus of a study into reducing air turbulence. Weather describes short-term atmospheric conditions. Climate change is the average rate of change over long periods in conditions including rainfall and temperature in a particular region. The amendment directed federal agencies to ignore climate change in the turbulence research required by the bill.

Floor Debate, Pro & Con

A yes vote was to adopt the amendment, which died in the Senate.

Issue 4: Defunding Climate and Noise Research for Aviation

Voting 127 for and 308 against, the House on July 19, 2023, defeated an amendment to a Federal Aviation Administration budget bill (HR 3935) that sought to block $100 million in FAA grants to spur private-sector development of technologies that reduce engine noise and produce alternative fuels that burn more cleanly and efficiently than those now in use. The amendment sought to block the bill’s expansion of the FAA’s main environmental initiative, known as the Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) program.

Floor Debate, Pro & Con

A yes vote was to adopt the amendment, which died in the Senate.

Issue 5: Defunding Biden Administration Climate Program


Voting 220 for and 214 against, the House on July 26, 2023, adopted an amendment that would prohibit a fiscal 2024 appropriations bill (HR 4366) from being used to fund an executive order concerning climate change. The order by President Biden would leverage the scale and purchasing power of the federal government to sharply reduce carbon emissions throughout public and private sectors of the U.S. economy.

Under the executive order targeted by this amendment, the administration is pursuing goals such as a carbon-pollution free electricity sector by 2030; the elimination of new-vehicle carbon emissions by 2035; immediate or near-term net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions in federal procurement; infrastructure that can withstand climate change; net-zero carbon emissions by 2045 in building construction; and a 65 percent decrease by 2030 (compared to 2008) in greenhouse-gas discharges by federal facilities.

Floor Debate, Pro & Con

A yes vote was to adopt the amendment, which died in the Senate.