Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018

Floor Speech

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Madam Chair, I rise in support of this amendment. My colleague, Mr. Mullin, is absolutely correct. When former President Obama directed the EPA, BLM, and other agencies to target industries for greenhouse gas emissions, they went directly for oil and natural gas first. But this EPA rule targeting methane is completely unnecessary.

Though methane is a byproduct of oil and natural gas production, it is also a valuable product in and of itself, and that is something that oil and gas companies routinely capture and sell rather than emit. Even EPA estimates show that methane emissions have decreased, while the production of natural gas and oil increased over the same period.

The free market has provided an incentive to reduce methane release on its own. There is no further need for EPA to impose costly bureaucratic hurdles on these sensitive industries.

And make no mistake: This rule imposes a steep burden. It is estimated to cost our economy $530 million annually.

Natural gas and oil production will continue to be pillars of an energy-friendly American economy. But instead of reducing barriers to growth, as President Trump has requested, this rule cripples our industries by duplicating what a combination of market forces and existing regulations have already produced.

Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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Madam Chair, I rise in support of this amendment. The Trump administration has done a good deed for the economy and for the American workers in issuing an executive order declawing the Obama administration's social cost of carbon guidance, but that is not enough. A future administration may not have as much sense to take on carbon tax policies. What is more, agencies continue to work on researching social cost on the taxpayer dime.

This is also a separation of powers issue. Congress is charged with setting tax policy, and by failing to put the nail in the coffin of this tax in disguise, we abdicate our duty. Congress and the American people have repeatedly rejected cap-and-trade proposals; now the Trump administration has as well. Social cost, however, remains on the books; therefore, Congress must act.

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