American Energy and Conservation Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, I wish to thank Senator Vitter for his support, his kind words, and his tireless effort over his senatorial career to highlight the fact that Louisiana is losing so much land and there is something we need to do about it.

I also thank Majority Leader McConnell for following through on his commitment to allow a vote on the American Energy and Conservation Act of 2016. This was introduced earlier this year by Senators Murkowski, Scott, Vitter, Tillis, Sullivan, and me. I thank each of them for their hard work.

I also thank Senators Kaine and Warner for helping draft the Atlantic portion of the legislation and for cosponsoring an earlier version. As I just said, this is a bipartisan piece of legislation that uses an ``all of the above'' strategy to pursue true American energy independence.

More than anything else, though, this legislation is about creating better jobs with better benefits. If there was one message we heard from this past election--if we actually listened to the American people, if we heard what they were saying, what we heard is that they want jobs that work for them, better jobs with better benefits.

This helps accomplish that. For example, a study conducted by Quest Offshore Resources, Inc., projects that this legislation would incentivize the creation of 280,000 new jobs by 2035. That same study estimates $195 billion in new investments and an additional $51 billion in cumulative government revenue. That is $51 billion in new Federal revenue that this bill helps unlock. It goes a long way to addressing our debt, deficit, and obligation to future generations.

The American Energy and Conservation Act will benefit American families and small businesses by expanding opportunities for States-- not just gulf coast but elsewhere--to support energy development.

For years, energy activities in coastal Gulf States and adjacent offshore waters have produced billions of barrels of oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas for American families. These States support offshore energy development for the rest of the country and provide the support and pay for the infrastructure needed to bring this energy to market. As with all development, there are increased costs associated with supporting increased traffic, additional use of local and State resources, as well as transportation corridors such as pipelines, vessels, and trucks to get this energy delivered to consumers across the United States.

This bill is truly an ``all of the above'' energy jobs bill. This legislation includes language introduced by Senators Heller, Heinrich, Risch, and Tester that streamlines the process for developing the renewable energy on public lands while establishing the first-ever revenue sharing paradigm for renewables. This legislation incentivizes tapping into the 27,000 megawatts of carbon-free energy that the Bureau of Land Management estimates could be provided by these projects.

Furthermore, if offshore revenue exists for oil and gas development, the same should be true for offshore wind development. That is why we are using the same model established in GOMESA to extend revenue sharing to States that support offshore wind projects. This legislation thus incentivizes developing some of the 4,233 gigawatts of carbon-free generation that the Bureau of Land Management estimates is available for development off our coasts.

This is the American Energy and Conservation Act of 2016. This legislation makes significant investments in conservation projects all over the United States. This legislation provides an additional $807 million for projects that increase access to public lands for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreational activities. This particular provision was included in Senator Murkowski's Bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2015, which 24 Senators have cosponsored. The legislation makes investments in a variety of important programs, including the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program.

This legislation is supported by over 50 important stakeholder groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce, the American Chemistry Council, the American Petroleum Institute, and the Consumer Energy Alliance. These organizations understand that this legislation is a jobs builder and good policy for American workers.

Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, the American Energy and Conservation Act of 2016.

I yield back.

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