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Energy & Environment — Biden calls for gas tax holiday

President Biden officially calls for a gas tax suspension, but it faces an uphill climb in Congress. Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland provides an update on the investigation into Native American boarding schools. 

This is Overnight Energy & Environment, your source for the latest news focused on energy, the environment and beyond. For The Hill, we’re Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk. Subscribe here.

Biden backs gas tax suspension

President Biden on Wednesday officially backed the suspension of both federal and state taxes on gasoline amid soaring fuel prices. 

• “Today, I’m calling on Congress to suspend the federal gas tax for the next 90 days through the busy…travel season,” Biden said at the White House.  
• “But we can also cut gas prices even more in another way. That’s why the second action I’m taking is calling on states to either suspend the state gas tax as well or find other ways to deliver some relief,” he added.  

The federal gasoline tax is 18 cents per gallon, while state gas taxes average about 26 cents per gallon, according to the American Petroleum Institute.  

Biden also alluded to halting the 24 cent federal tax on diesel.   

His federal effort, however, is likely to face high hurdles in Congress amid skepticism from both Republicans and members of his own party. 

Opponents have raised concerns about whether the suspension will be effective — saying some of the cut may not get passed to consumers — and have also noted that the taxes the government collects goes toward the Highway Trust Fund, which helps pay for the country’s infrastructure. 

His message for the critics: Biden sought to assuage those concerns in his speech, arguing it’s possible to address highway funding at the same time and calling on companies to pass the potential suspension to consumers. 

• “With the tax revenues up this year and our deficit down over $1.6 trillion this year alone, we’ll still be able to fix our highways and bring down prices of gas, we can do both at the same time,” he said. 
• “I call on the companies to pass this along — every penny of this 18 cent reduction — to the consumers. There’s no time now for profiteering,” he added.

In a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm estimated that the highway trust fund would be hit by about $10 billion, but said that Biden is asking “that the trust fund be repaid.” 

She added that he was having conversations with congress about how to do that.  

 In his speech, Biden also acknowledged that gas tax suspensions won’t entirely resolve high prices— as gasoline averaged around $4.96 nationwide on Wednesday, but still said they would provide important savings.  

“I fully understand that a gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem, but it will provide families some immediate relief, just a little bit of breathing room, as we continue working to bring down prices for the long haul.” 

Read more about his support for the idea here.

A LONG SHOT ON CAPITOL HILL

Biden’s push for a gas tax holiday faces tough odds in Congress, both Republicans and several members of his own party have come out against a gas tax suspension.

• Both top Republicans and Democrats who typically align with Biden are among those who have given fresh criticism of the gas tax suspension over the past day or so. 
• Meanwhile Democratic leaders, who have also been skeptical, said they would give it a fair shake on Wednesday – though it’s unclear where the majority of the caucus stands.  

Democratic leadership: In a statement following Biden’s Wednesday speech, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) gave a lukewarm response.  

“We will see where the consensus lies on a path forward for the President’s proposal in the House and the Senate,” she said.  

Pelosi had previously raised concerns about whether the benefits would actually go to consumers and whether they’d be taken out of the highway trust fund. 

“We have a situation where there’s money coming out of the Highway Trust Fund, it’s going to the oil companies, they may not give it to the consumer, and it has to be paid for. … That’s the con,” Pelosi, 

Meanwhile, second-in-command Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he’d consider Biden’s proposal, but expressed some reservations.  

“The president’s made a proposal. I’m going to look at it certainly —  sympathetically — in the sense that the president is trying to do what I think is a good objective. …

What I’m not sure of is that, in fact, that will have the effect, the intended effect, in terms of the retail price — whether in fact it will save consumers money,” Hoyer told reporters. “We all agree that the price at the pump is hurting working Americans.” 

He also said it’s not clear whether the idea has enough support to pass the House.  

“I don’t know whether we have the votes; we haven’t counted,” he said.  

Infrastructure Democrats: Meanwhile, top infrastructure Democrats have also expressed opposition.  

• “Suspending the federal gas tax will not provide meaningful relief at the pump for American families, but it will blow a multi-billion-dollar hole in the highway trust fund putting funding for future infrastructure projects at risk,” House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) told The Hill in a statement on Tuesday. 
• “Suspending the primary way that we pay for infrastructure projects on our roads is a shortsighted and inefficient way to provide relief,” tweeted Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.).  

Even if Biden could get all of the members of his own party to back a gas tax suspension, he’d likely need to convince 10 Republicans given the Senate’s filibuster rule. 

The GOP: That also seems unlikely, as many Republicans have also offered criticism of the idea.  

“A gas tax holiday isn’t a real fix & doesn’t address our supply problem. It’s another wrongheaded idea equivalent to putting a Band-Aid on a gushing wound,” tweeted Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).  

Read more about the opposition prior to the announcement here.

Boarding schools investigation continues

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Wednesday outlined the next steps her department has planned to address the legacy of abuses at government-run schools for indigenous children and legislation to examine the matter.  

• Haaland, the first Indigenous Cabinet secretary in U.S. history, testified Wednesday afternoon before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about the first volume of Interior’s investigative report into the schools.
• At these institutions, Indigenous children had their hair cut and were forbidden from speaking their native languages, among other efforts to extinguish their heritage and assimilate them into the broader American culture. 
• The first Interior report, released in May, found that over a 50-year period, more than 500 children died across 19 schools.  

Meanwhile: The hearing also served as a chance to examine S. 2907, a bill to establish a Truth and Healing Commission to address the school system’s legacy.

The legislation, which Haaland had sponsored during her time representing New Mexico in the House, would require the commission to develop recommendations for protecting unmarked graves and how to identify the original tribal areas from which the children were taken. It would also create legislative guardrails to keep present-day governmental institutions such as social service agencies from forcibly assimilating native children.  

“Some of the most influential decisions by the department on the lives of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children involve those related to federal Indian boarding schools,” Haaland said.

“That is part of America’s story that we must tell. While we cannot change that history, I believe that our nation will benefit from a full understanding of the truth of what took place and a focus on healing the wounds of the past.” 

Read more about the hearing here.

Female scientists less likely to be credited for work

Women in science are less likely than their male counterparts to receive authorship credit for the work they do, a new study has found. 

• The study, published in Nature on Wednesday, found that women who worked on a given research project were 13 percent less likely than their male colleagues to appear as authors in related journal articles.
• “Women are not getting credit at the same rates as men on journal articles,” co-author Enrico Berkes, a postdoctoral researcher in economics at The Ohio State University, said in a statement. “The gap is persistent, and it is strong.”
• When it came to patents, the authors found an even larger gender gap: Women were nearly 59 percent less likely than men to be named on patents related to the projects they worked on. 

To draw these conclusions, the authors said they combed through a swath of administrative data from universities that helped reveal precisely who was involved with and paid for various projects. 

That information came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s UMETRICS dataset, which contains details about sponsored research projects for 52 higher education institutions from 2013 through 2016. These projects involved almost 129,000 people on nearly 10,000 research teams, according to the study. 

After sorting through this information, the researchers said they linked that data to patents and articles published in scientific journals to determine which individuals received credit in the patents and journals and who did not. 

Read more from The Hill’s Sharon Udasin.

ON TAP TOMORROW

The House Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Research and Technology and Subcommittee on Environment will hold a hearing entitled “Assessing Federal Programs for Measuring Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks”

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Officials called it the ‘year of water’ at the Legislature. Special interests still pushed against conservation. (The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica) 
• Is US solar ready to prove its panels aren’t made with forced labor? (Canary Media) 
• One family, three generations of cancer, and the largest concentration of oil refineries in California (Grist and High Country News) 
• Unilever’s Plastic Playbook (Reuters)

And finally, something offbeat and off-beat: Booking it.

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Energy & Environment page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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Equilibrium/Sustainability — Robot fish cleans microplastics from water

Scientists have engineered a light-activated robotic fish that can clear microplastics, or tiny plastic particles, from water.

The small tool could help rid the nation’s creeks and rivers of the particularly elusive pollution source.

The fish, whose tail is powered by a rapidly cycling laser, was able to pick up plastic particles and transport them elsewhere, according to the study in Nano Letters. 

Microplastics, which are ubiquitous and potentially hazardous, are very hard to clean from the cracks and crevices from the bottoms of waterways, a statement from the American Chemical Society explained.

The half-inch robot is made of material inspired by mother-of-pearl — the material found in clam shells — an upgrade over existing soft-bodied robots, and a skin that has the ability to self-heal, according to the statement.

Welcome to Equilibrium, a newsletter that tracks the growing global battle over the future of sustainability. We’re Saul Elbein and Sharon Udasin. Send us tips and feedback. Subscribe here.

Today we’ll explore President Biden’s likely doomed gas tax holiday and look at a push for more domestic solar panels. Then we’ll turn to a new offshore wind law in Louisiana and examine gender disparities in scientific research credits.

Biden gas tax holiday likely dead on arrival

President Biden on Wednesday officially called for a three-month federal gas tax holiday, which would lead to a slight decrease in gas prices until September.

That proposal is likely doomed, however, in part due to opposition from Democrats such as Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), our colleague Rachel Frazin reports.

If it fails, Manchin will have played a pivotal role this week in killing both the gas tax holiday and a proposed expansion to the electric vehicle tax credit.

Temporary cut: The White House proposed a temporary halt to the 18 cent-per-gallon federal gas tax as a means of cutting prices at the pump, Frazin reported.

• That’d represent a discount of about 3.5 percent off current average regular gasoline prices, based on numbers from the American Automobile Association.
• It would mean savings of about $2 to $3 on a typical tank of gas, based on a tank size of 12 to 16 gallons.

Dim prognosis: While the measure is supported by swing-state Democrats, opposition from across the ideological spectrum — from Manchin to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) — means it is unlikely to pass.

EV TAX CREDIT BONUS DEAD, TOO

Manchin said Tuesday that a $4,500 discount for union-made electric vehicles is “gone” from Senate Democrats’ pared-down spending package, Bloomberg reports.

• Democrats’ proposed plan would provide a $7,500 tax credit for buying new EVs, while Manchin has long opposed a $4,500 bonus for union-made cars.
• The senator prefers government support for hydrogen-powered vehicles, Bloomberg reported.
• To do so, Manchin has proposed using West Virginia’s extensive natural gas resources to generate hydrogen, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

Renewable firms offer $6B for US-made solar panels

A consortium of U.S. renewable energy firms has offered $6 billion to buy domestic-made solar panels — if manufacturers are willing to produce them, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Eager for panels: The group, which includes AES Corp., Clearway Energy Group, Cypress Creek Renewables and D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments, said in a news release it would buy as much as 7 gigawatts worth of U.S. solar panels annually.

• That’s more than a quarter of what the country installed last year, the Journal reported.
• That amount is also far greater than the 4.8 gigawatts of panels manufactured in the U.S. last year, E&E News noted, citing the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Why the offer? The group is trying to encourage manufacturers to establish or expand solar production in the U.S.

Setting up such an industry at home could help cement a domestic supply chain and reduce the country’s dependence on China and Southeast Asia for solar panels, according to the Journal. 

Independence, security: “We have to play a big role in this energy independence and security for the U.S.,” Leo Moreno, president of AES’s clean-energy business unit, told the Journal.  

Craig Cornelius, chief executive of Clearway Energy Group, said in a statement the move was “just one step toward bolstering America’s solar supply chain” while urging Congress to “seize the opportunity” to incentivize U.S. solar manufacturing.

• Earlier this month, President Biden signed an order to exempt Southeast Asian nations from any new tariffs on solar panels for the next two years.
• This decision came as part of an effort to strengthen the industry amid a Commerce Department investigation into whether Southeast Asian companies were being used to circumvent U.S. tariffs on Chinese firms.    

What could $6 billion mean for solar? Such an investment could help the U.S. become a significant player in solar panel production, Dan Kammen of the University of California, Berkeley, told Marketplace.  

“It’s not like we’re building this from ground zero, from scratch,” Kammen added.

Louisiana wants offshore wind to pay for production 

Wind energy companies off the coast of Louisiana will pay royalty fees to the state under a new bipartisan bill signed on Tuesday by Gov. John Bel Edwards (D). 

That financing mechanism — common to the oil industry, but almost unheard of in wind energy — could help Louisiana’s government wean itself off oil royalties, NOLA.com reported.  

Wind energy is a key part of Edwards’s ambitious plan for 5 gigawatts of offshore wind in state waters by 2035. 

Wind industry pushback: The addition of royalty fees for wind energy means wind producers will pay a fee to the state for every megawatt generated — something they don’t have to do in neighboring states like Texas or in federal waters, according to NOLA.com. 

• That could push new wind development to those states, industry trade group Southeastern Wind Coalition told NOLA.com.
   
• But state Rep. Jerome Zeringue (R), the bill’s sponsor, has called that claim “ridiculous”, NOLA.com previously reported.  
• Zeringue maintained that Louisiana’s large offshore oil and gas workforce, whose skills are easily transferable to offshore wind, would ensure ample wind industry development.  

Financing the boom: With natural gas prices soaring, utilities are increasingly interested in signing multi-year power purchase agreements with builders of new wind and solar plants, The Wall Street Journal reported.

That means they are willing to commit to buying the energy if a developer can produce it, according to the Journal.

A much bigger handicap to building out wind power is bottlenecked transmission lines, and the “red tape” that makes it hard to build new ones, the Journal noted. 

A PUSH FOR BLADE RECYCLING

The Louisiana bill would also require wind companies to make a plan for decommissioning their turbines at the end of their working lives. 

What to do with them? About 85 percent of a wind turbine’s total mass — like steel, cement and copper wire — can be recycled using established channels, according to EU-based trade group WindEurope. 

But most blades — despite being made of valuable glass and carbon-fiber composites — go to landfills, WindEurope noted.  

But other alternatives exist:

• In one Missouri plant, turbines are broken down to be used for fuel and as a replacement for the silica in cement production, St. Louis Public Radio reported.
• French manufacturer Arkema is also marketing a prototype of a fully recyclable windmill blade. 

Female scientists less likely to get authorship credit

Women in science are less likely than their male colleagues to be credited as authors for the research they perform, a new study has found. 

The study, published in Nature on Wednesday, found that women who worked on a given research project were 13 percent less likely than their male counterparts to appear as authors in related journal articles. 

A persistent gap: “Women are not getting credit at the same rates as men on journal articles,” co-author Enrico Berkes, a postdoctoral researcher in economics at The Ohio State University, said in a statement.  

“The gap is persistent, and it is strong,” Berkes added. 

Patents fared worse than articles. When it came to patents, the authors found an even larger gender gap: Women were nearly 59 percent less likely than men to be named on patents related to the projects they worked on. 

Linking data: To draw these conclusions, the authors said they combed through data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s UMETRICS dataset, which helped reveal precisely who was involved with and paid for various projects. 

• That data included details about sponsored research projects for 52 higher education institutions from 2013 through 2016.  
• Almost 129,000 people on nearly 10,000 research teams were involved in the projects.  

The authors then linked that data to patents and articles published in scientific journals to determine which individuals received credit in the patents and journals and who did not. 

Higher impact, less inclusion: When it came to what scientists consider “high-impact” articles — those that amass the most citations in other papers — the inclusion of women among the authors was even less probable, according to the study. 

“There should never be a gap in credit between men and women,” Weinberg said.  

“But you really don’t want a gap on the research that has the biggest impact on a scientific field,” he added. “That’s a huge source of concern.” 

To read the full story, please click here.

Water Wednesday

Fires give way to floods in New Mexico, Utah churches weaning their landscapes off watering and Italy seeks drought solutions from a desert country. 

From fires to floods 

• Areas of New Mexico plagued by wildfires are now bracing for excessive flooding, which one hydrologists described to The Washington Post as “a mixed blessing.” While such downpours would help quench the ongoing fires, flash floods over burn scars can cause debris flows and landslides, the Post reported. 

Mormon temples reduce watering 

• The Church of Jesus Christ may allow landscapes at some Latter-day Saint temples to go dormant due to U.S. West drought conditions, the Salt Lake City-based Deseret News reported. “We all play a part in preserving the critical resources needed to sustain life — especially water — and we invite others to join us in reducing water use wherever possible,” a statement from the church said. 

Preventing wildfire could save Phoenix’s water 

• Thinning the dense trees in the Arizona’s Coconino National Forest could help safeguard Phoenix’s water supply — by cutting the risk that destructive wildfire would clog a critical reservoir with ash and sediment, The Arizona Republic reported. The cost of the operation is “a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of damage that a wildfire could cause here,” an analyst with a Phoenix utility told the Republic. 

Please visit The Hill’s Sustainability section online for the web version of this newsletter and more stories. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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NotedDC — Inflation looms over Biden as he pushes to tout wins

President Biden appears on track to secure major anti-gun violence victories in the coming weeks, but high inflation threatens to overshadow them.

The Senate broke nearly 30 years of gridlock when it advanced a bipartisan gun safety bill Tuesday. It’s also set to confirm what would be the first permanent director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in seven years.

It will give Democrats accomplishments to tout as the midterms get closer, but activists note the president largely remained on the sidelines in public on both the bill and the push for Steve Dettelbach’s confirmation as ATF director.

“As activists, we barely heard from the White House in the week since the shooting, and the president made one prime-time speech and seemed to call it a day,” Zeenat Yahya of March for our Lives told The Hill’s Alex Gangitano and Brett Samuels.

Biden’s focus has largely been on solving record levels of inflation and high gas prices, and there are few signs that he will pivot to other issues as the White House continues to take heat over rising prices.

Some Democrats like Rep. Ro Khanna (Calif.) are criticizing Biden for not doing enough to solve inflation, though the president is also facing opposition from key members when attempting to pass measures like a three-month gas tax holiday.

Congress is likely to reject the gas tax suspension as a way to lower costs, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) among those who have previously expressed concerns, The Hill’s Rachel Frazin reports.

The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant and Amie Parnes report that none of this sounds great for Biden’s potential reelection bid — on top of persistent questions about his age.

Welcome to NotedDC: Your guide to politics, policy and people of consequence in D.C. Send us tips: Elizabeth Crisp, Kelsey Carolan. Not on the list? Sign up here

Who is testifying at Thursday’s Jan. 6 hearing

The Jan. 6 committee is set to host its last hearing of the month on Thursday. The panel’s fifth public hearing will focus on former President Trump’s attempts to push the Department of Justice (DOJ) to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Here’s a look at who’s testifying Thursday: 

JEFFREY ROSEN — former acting attorney general under then-President Trump

• Rosen previously told the Jan. 6 committee behind closed doors that he refused to sign a letter to state legislatures informing them that the DOJ was investigating claims of irregularities in voting. The letter was pushed by Jeffrey Clark, who served as the acting head of the DOJ’s civil division.
• He also testified behind closed doors to the Senate Judiciary Committee that just days before Jan. 6 he had to meet with Trump to “persuade” him “not to pursue a different path” on election integrity endorsed by his allies. 

RICHARD DONOGHUE — former acting deputy attorney general under Rosen

• Donoghue also rejected the letter Clark wanted him and Rosen to sign.
• Some of his testimony behind closed doors has already been shown, debunking the claims Trump made about widespread voter fraud in multiple swing states like Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan.

STEVEN ENGEL — former assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel

• According to Rosen’s testimony to the Jan. 6 committee, Engel threatened to resign if Rosen signed Clark’s drafted letter to the state legislatures.
• Engel testified to the panel privately that Trump’s proposals for Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election was “absurd,” according to Politico.

Programming note: The panel announced Wednesday it will pause its hearings next week and pick them up again in July.

MCCARTHY FACES HEAT FROM TRUMP OVER JAN. 6 PANEL

Former President Trump in a new interview calls out House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over his decision to pull Republicans from the Jan. 6 panel.

• “It was a bad decision not to have representation on this committee. That was a very, very foolish decision,” Trump told radio host Wayne Allyn Root on Sunday.
• “The Republicans don’t have a voice,” Trump told Punchbowl News on Wednesday.

Remember: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) rejected two of McCarthy’s initial nominations — Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Jim Banks (Ind.) — since they voted against certifying election results on Jan. 6.

McCarthy then pulled his three other nominees — Reps. Rodney Davis (Ill.), Troy Nehls (Texas) and Kelly Armstrong (N.D.) — in protest of the panel.

Why Trump’s criticism matters: McCarthy is likely to make a bid for Speaker if the GOP takes back the House in November, and Trump’s support will be key.

Read more from The Hill’s Brett Samuels on Trump’s comments.

Threats against lawmakers surge since 2017

Threats against members of Congress surged 144 percent from 2017 to 2021, based on data from U.S. Capitol Police (USCP).

Why it’s important: The trend is not likely to get any better, with a renewed focus on threats to lawmakers serving on the House panel investigating Jan. 6.

USCP does not disclose potential security measures, but The Washington Post reports all lawmakers on the committee are likely to receive a security detail.

• Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) warned of increased violence when he tweeted a photo Sunday of a death threat he received over his role on the Jan. 6 panel.
• The panel’s other Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), has had a security detail since June 2021 after receiving threats, The New York Times reported.

The political context: The increased awareness surrounding threats and potential security measures comes amid a contentious midterm election cycle.

Eric Greitens, a Missouri GOP Senate candidate, posted a video Monday widely panned as inciting violence against Republicans deemed insufficiently conservative.

QUOTABLE

“I think name-calling is not particularly helpful … If we’re going to have a debate about policy, I am all for that but I am not going to engage in a game of name calling.”

– Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) on Wednesday after former President Trump called him a “RINO.”

COMMANDERS FACE CONGRESSIONAL SCRUTINY

House Oversight and Reform Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) is vowing to issue a subpoena to Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder.

• The NFL team owner refused to voluntarily testify before the panel Wednesday about allegations of workplace misconduct and sexual harassment.
• “If the NFL is unwilling to hold Mr. Snyder accountable, then I am willing to do so,” Maloney said at the hearing. 

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell testified Wednesday that Snyder ran a “toxic” and “unprofessional workplace” for a long time.

It’s unclear whether Snyder will comply with a subpoena. His spokesperson told The Hill that the committee should focus “on more pressing national matters.” 

Read more here.

Getting ready for DC’s new museums

Two new Smithsonian museums that Congress approved in late 2020 are one step closer to being built.

• Locations for the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and National Museum of the American Latino must be finalized by December.
• The board that oversees the existing museums along the National Mall has narrowed the possible locations for the new museums.

The four locations still under consideration:

• Arts and Industries Building—900 Jefferson Dr. S.W., a Smithsonian building on the National Mall next to the Castle
• Northwest Capitol site—undeveloped land located north of the Capitol Reflecting Pool, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Capitol 
• South Monument site—undeveloped land across the National Mall from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, on Jefferson Drive S.W., under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service 
• Tidal Basin site—undeveloped land bordered by Raoul Wallenberg Place S.W. and Maine Avenue S.W., under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service 

Both museums took years of lobbying before Congress quietly tucked their approval into an appropriations bill in December 2020.

No cost estimates have been revealed for the two latest museums, but the money will be an even split of taxpayer dollars and private sources.

Stay with TheHill.com for the latest and recommend NotedDC to others: thehill.com/noted. See you tomorrow.

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House has easy win with outdoor recreation package

Summer is here and Americans are headed outside — boating, camping, ATVing, hiking, biking, climbing, fishing, RVing, paddling, and more on our public lands. Throughout June, the outdoor recreation industry is celebrating Great Outdoors Month® by reminding everyone just how important outdoor recreation is at the national, state, and local levels. It packs a big economic punch — generating $689 billion and creating over 4.3 million jobs — while bringing health benefits to communities and individuals who get outside, even for a walk in a local park. 

The endless benefits outdoor recreation heaps on our nation come with their own challenges. More Americans than ever are getting outside, which is excellent for personal and societal health, but more people on our public lands and waters means we must do a better job at maintaining our outdoor infrastructure, while also protecting our fish and wildlife from the impacts of overcrowding. At the same time, many Americans do not have adequate access to recreation opportunities, preventing them from enjoying its benefits. Congress, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and state and local governments must work together to ensure all Americans have access to public lands and waters regardless of their zip code. 

Fortunately, these challenges have bipartisan solutions that won’t cost taxpayers a dime. The outdoor recreation industry worked with members of Congress, outdoor businesses, and local and national leaders to introduce an outdoor recreation package that will improve everyone’s outdoor experience and set the industry up for a sustainable future. 

Chairman Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee have introduced the America’s Outdoor Recreation Act of 2022, a first-of-its-kind comprehensive recreation package. The bill passed out of the committee in May and combines several bipartisan and bicameral bills the outdoor recreation industry has long supported — including the Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation (SOAR) Act, the Outdoor Recreation Act, Recreation Not Red-Tape Act, and other pragmatic pieces of outdoor recreation legislation. 

These bills streamline the permitting processes for outdoor excursions, support rural communities, create partnerships to update infrastructure and keep recreation areas open, extend outdoor recreation seasons, improve visitation data on public lands, make updates to obsolete reservation and permitting systems, and provide more tools for public land managers to plan for sustainable and responsible recreation for the future for everyone. 

This package is full of vital updates to our outdoor recreation infrastructure and systems that will ensure positive and safe outdoor experiences while setting the industry, which has endured COVID-19 and climate-related closures, and its economic benefits up for a successful future. These bills also make recreation more accessible for everyone whether you live next to a national park or in an urban center. 

This is an easy win for Democrats and Republicans in an election year when passing anything is difficult. These commonsense bills will bolster the outdoor recreation economy, support communities large and small, and ensure all Americans can continue to enjoy the great outdoors. 

We urge the House, particularly Chairman Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), to match the Senate and take up these bipartisan bills in the House Natural Resources Committee and create an outdoor recreation package. Doing so will improve outdoor recreation for every American and further bolster the growing and dependable outdoor recreation economy. 

Jessica Turner is executive director of Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR). ORR is the nation’s leading coalition of outdoor recreation trade associations representing the $689 billion outdoor recreation economy.

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Bully pulpit fizzles for Biden

President Biden isn’t getting a ton of help from the bully pulpit.

The White House is supposed to provide a big advantage, allowing the president to speak out and command attention on any public issue. It’s an enormous opportunity to shape public opinion or hit back at opponents politically. 

But it hasn’t provided much of a boost to Biden over the last year.

The president’s approval rating is stuck in the high 30s or low 40s amid rising gas prices and high inflation in an election year that is looking like a difficult one for Democrats. 

For nearly a year, Biden and his team have sought to use the power of the office and the pulpit to work on those numbers, to little success. 

In the fall, Biden couldn’t completely corral Democrats around his Build Back Better agenda, though he did win victories on a COVID-19 relief package and a bipartisan infrastructure bill. 

He’s now facing a new test with his call on Wednesday for a three-month suspension of the federal gas tax. 

Biden went to the cameras to give his message, and news organizations led with the fact that the announcement was coming on Wednesday morning. 

But it didn’t appear to be providing immediate dividends. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Biden’s top congressional ally, didn’t bend, declining to back his proposal. 

“We will see where the consensus lies on a path forward for the President’s proposal in the House and the Senate, building on the strong bills to lower prices at the pump already passed by House Democrats including the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act and the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act,“ Pelosi said in a statement shortly after Biden’s speech.

Some observers think the problem isn’t really Biden’s but the nature of the presidency. They think the bully pulpit just isn’t what it used to be.

“It’s just a sign of the times,” Michael Eric Dyson, the noted historian and professor, said. “The distraction, the attention economy has been depleted.” 

Some historians argue that social media, the 24/7 news cycle and the rise of former President Trump have fundamentally changed the bully pulpit in a way that has worked against Biden.

Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, said she recently asked an audience of roughly 200 people, with the average age of 65, how many watched Biden’s prime-time speech on guns the evening prior, and only five or six raised their hands. 

“I was stunned,” Perry said.  

Biden is perhaps most significantly limited as president to address inflation that has hit a 40-year high and gas prices that have averaged $5 per gallon. 

In his speech on Wednesday, Biden proposed that Congress move to suspend the 18 cent per gallon federal gas tax through September to provide Americans some relief during the busy summer vacation months. He also called on governors to suspend state gas taxes or provide a form of equivalent relief and urged oil companies to boost gas production. 

“I fully understand that the gas tax holiday alone is not going to fix the problem,” Biden said from the South Court Auditorium, his prepared remarks complimented by an elaborate backdrop display of images related to gas prices and Russia’s war in Ukraine. “But it will provide families some immediate relief, just a little bit of breathing room, as we continue working to bring down prices for the long haul.” 

A poll from Consumer Brands and Ipsos released on Wednesday found that 72 percent of adults reported grocery inflation having at least a somewhat significant impact on their household budgets. That is likely contributing to the public’s gloomy outlook; more than 60 percent of those polled in multiple surveys over the last few months believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.

“Presidents can move public opinion more in areas that are more detached for everyday experience,” said Bill Galston, chair of the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies Program. 

“No matter whether you’re Joe Biden or the ‘great communicator’ Ronald Reagan, you’re going to have a hard time changing people’s basic perspectives,” Galston said. 

There have been a few times the presidential megaphone has worked in Biden’s favor, according to observers.

Perry said she believed the speech Biden gave following the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting demanding that Congress pass a host of measures to curb mass shootings that have devastated the country was the best of his presidency so far.

While the bipartisan package of measures that advanced this week is far more pared down than what Biden called for earlier in June, there nevertheless has been more movement on the gun issue on Capitol Hill than in the last decade. 

And while he has recorded some meaningful legislative wins — including the sweeping trillion-dollar coronavirus relief package and a bipartisan infrastructure law — he has struggled to unite his party behind a sweeping domestic spending package and time and again run up against blanket Republican opposition in the form of the legislative filibuster. 

“The bully pulpit is always limited, especially in a highly polarized world where public opinion doesn’t change dramatically,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, who added that Biden has stepped into an era that has been building since the 1980s. “I don’t think any president can do much in terms of huge swings in opinion.” 

Source: TEST FEED1

Fetterman leads Oz in Pennsylvania Senate race: poll

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) is leading celebrity physician Mehmet Oz (R) by six points in their race for the state’s open Senate seat, according to a new AARP poll. 

The survey’s results show Fetterman with 50 percent support among likely voters to Oz’s 44 percent. Fetterman also has a slightly smaller lead among likely voters aged 50 and older, 49 percent to 46 percent. 

The lieutenant governor, who suffered a stroke last month, has a significantly higher net favorability rating. He is viewed favorably by 46 percent of voters and unfavorably by 36 percent for a net 10 percent rating. Oz is viewed favorably by 30 percent of voters and unfavorably by 63 percent for a net of –33 percent. 

A USA Today Network-Suffolk University poll released last week showed Fetterman with a nine-point lead over Oz.

The race for Senate in Pennsylvania is expected to receive a notable amount of attention as its outcome could decide which party controls the Senate for the next two years. 

Fetterman and Oz are seeking to replace the retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R).

Oz won the Republican nomination earlier this month after his main opponent, former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, conceded following a recount. 

As in the previous USA Today poll, the governor’s race is tighter in the AARP’s survey.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) leads the Republican nominee, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, by three points, 49 percent to 46 percent, in the latest poll. Shapiro leads among likely voters aged 50 and older by one point, 48 percent to 47 percent. This puts Shapiro’s lead within the margin of error. 

Shapiro’s net favorability is stronger than Mastriano’s, but the difference is closer than in the Fetterman-Oz race. Shapiro is viewed favorably by 47 percent and unfavorably by 34 percent. Mastriano is viewed favorably by 37 percent and unfavorably by 44 percent. 

The poll’s analysis points out that although the Democratic nominees are viewed more favorably than their Republican opponents, Democrats are facing a challenging political environment as President Biden’s approval rating remains near 40 percent. 

The analysis states Republicans hold a two-point lead on the generic congressional ballot. 

Almost 85 percent of respondents said the country is heading on the wrong track, and more than 75 percent said the state is going in the wrong direction. 

Only 30 percent said they felt the economy is working for them, as a plurality of respondents rated rising costs and inflation as the most important issue to them. 

Enthusiasm is high among likely voters for both parties, with 84 percent of Democrats and 87 percent of Republicans saying they are “extremely motivated” to vote for governor and Congress in 2022. 

The AARP poll surveyed 1,382 likely voters from June 12 to 19. 

It included a statewide representative sample of 500 likely voters, an oversample of 550 likely voters aged 50 and older and an additional oversample of 328 Black likely voters aged 50 and older. The margin of errors were 4.4 points for the representative sample, 3.3 points for the total sample of 828 older voters and 4.7 points for the total sample of Black older voters.

Source: TEST FEED1

Target expands military discount for Fourth of July

(NEXSTAR) – In honor of Independence Day, Target is expanding its discount for veterans and active-duty military service members.

The company said that after expanding its Veteran’s Day discount in November, it decided to offer it for the Fourth as well.

Members of the country’s military communities can now get a 10% discount on two transactions between Sunday, June 26 and July 4.

The purchases can be in-store or online, but you’ll need a valid document that proves military status, such as a veteran ID card.

“Core to Target’s commitment to our military communities is our deep appreciation for their sacrifice and service,” the company said in a news release.

Target isn’t the only place for veterans and active military to take advantage of a discount this Fourth of July.

You can get 20% off of eligible items at Walgreens from July 1-July 4 and 20% off Rack Room Shoes on July 4, according to Military.com. Any active-duty military member can bring their families for free to any Blue Star Museum through Sept. 5.

Source: TEST FEED1

Chasten Buttigieg knocks Boebert after her 'shoutout' to America's dads

Chasten Buttigieg on Wednesday called out Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) for recently tweeting her support for America’s fathers despite having “attacked” his husband, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, when he was at the hospital with their son last year.

Chasten said he and Buttigieg’s “two-month-old son was on a ventilator at the children’s hospital when you attacked my husband for being with his family.”

“I watched him take calls and Zooms from our hospital room all day, managing crisis after crisis while our son’s heart monitor beeped in the background,” he wrote on Twitter.

Chasten was referencing a Father’s Day tweet from Boebert in which she said the “role of the father is absolutely fundamental to the family and to society as a whole,” before she gave a “shoutout of gratitude” to America’s dads.

Buttigieg took criticism from conservatives for taking more than two months of parental leave last fall after welcoming newborn twins while the country was in a supply chain crisis.

Boebert was among the Transportation secretary’s toughest critics, accusing him in a November YouTube video of “not working” because he was “trying to figure out how to chest feed.”

“While he builds up his image as a doting dad, the country burns up around him,” she said.

Pete Buttigieg defended himself after the backlash, telling MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” he was available around the clock to resolve issues.

“What is really strange is that, you know, this is from a side of the aisle that used to claim the mantle of being pro-family. What we have right now is an administration that’s actually pro-family,” Buttigieg said last fall. 

“I’m blessed to be able to experience that as an employee, being able to have the flexibility to take care of our newborn children, which is, by the way, work. It’s a joyful work. It’s wonderful work, but it’s — it’s definitely work,” he added.

Source: TEST FEED1

American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents against 'co-sleeping' with infants

Physicians are warning parents that sleeping with their small children in bed increases the risk of suffocation.  

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) published updated guidelines on how to safely sleep with infants and toddlers on Tuesday, for the first time in five years.  

In the updated guidelines, the academy states more firmly than before that the safest place for babies to sleep is close to their parents’ bed but on a separate firm and flat surface designed for infants for at least their first six months.  

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Co-sleeping with an infant or even having too many objects around the little one greatly increases the chances of suffocation while sleeping.  

“The AAP understands and respects that many parents choose to routinely bed share for a variety of reasons, including facilitation of breastfeeding, cultural preferences, and a belief that it is better and safer for their infant,” the Academy said in a statement.  

“However, on the basis of evidence, the AAP is unable to recommend bed sharing under any circumstances.” 

The Academy recommends having infants sleep in a crib or bassinet close to their parents’ bed to make it easier for moms or dads to feed, comfort or respond to their baby’s needs.  

The guideline changes come in the wake of report findings stating that more than a dozen infants have suffocated while sleeping in rockers made by Fisher-Price and Kids2 over the last 12 years.  

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