Biden's Assault on American Energy

Floor Speech

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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, it is great to represent the great State of Arkansas. I want to say thank you to the HEAT Team and to Mr. Joyce for holding this Special Order on the Democrats' assault on American energy.

As gas prices have recently reached the highest level since 2014, Americans are seeing the effects of the decisions that were made on day one by President Biden.

In the Natural Resources Committee, Democrats continue to attack safe and reliable energy production, spend millions to kill American energy jobs, impose new taxes and fees on working families, and make our Nation more reliant than ever on foreign adversaries for critical minerals and energy resources we could be producing more cleanly, cheaply, and effectively right here at home.

One glaring example of that--and there are many--is in the Natural Resources Committee when we marked up this atrocious, now $5\1/2\ trillion, spending bill that the Democrats are trying to push through Congress. There is actually a line item there, a $350 million line item to close down a copper mine.

Now, Madam Speaker, how can you talk about green energy when you want to close down copper mines in the United States?

Now, this copper mine is in Arizona, and it was agreed to on a bipartisan bill by Senators Harry Reid and John McCain. The mine is being developed. As a matter of fact, the owner of the mine has spent $2 billion developing this mine. It is 7,000 feet below ground, but Democrats want to yank that lease out of their hands. They want to close it down.

Now, what does that tell investors who want to invest in mining in America?

It says: We are closed. We are not open for business.

Madam Speaker, you can look at numerous other examples. A cancelation of the Keystone XL pipeline immediately eliminated 1,000 union jobs as well as 10,000 projected jobs associated with the project.

The President's ban on Federal oil and gas leasing has resulted in lost revenues for energy producing States and led our National Security Advisor to beg OPEC Plus--which includes Russia, Iran, and Venezuela-- to increase supply and bail us out.

If this administration's leasing bans become permanent, nearly 500,000 jobs could be lost by 2040.

Additionally, in 2019, States received a total of $1.81 billion for mineral revenues and used these funds to support public schools, environmental restoration, coastal resiliency, and many of our important programs.

This administration has disregarded the fact that energy development supports major environmental efforts at the Federal level, such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund which is specifically funded by offshore drilling revenues.

To justify its actions, the administration has argued that a major scale-up in renewables will replace lost jobs and generating capacity. That is nonsense. Forcing a national switch to alternative energy against market forces will result in massive unemployment, higher energy prices, and possibly rolling blackouts from insufficient power.

The Democrat's plan simply will not work. It will not work for the economy, and it will not work for the environment.

Here is why it won't work: The Democrat's plan is all about electric vehicles. We are going to make electric vehicles. Well, Madam Speaker, if you look at global greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. accounts for 15 percent of it. Transportation is 29 percent. If you could eliminate every internal combustion engine, Madam Speaker, you would only affect global emissions by a little over 4 percent, and that is if you didn't have to use fossil fuels and emit carbon to make the electricity to power these cars.

We are talking about a minimal impact on global carbon at a huge cost for American consumers. We don't even have the grid that can handle all of these electric vehicles. There are many, many technical problems with it.

China, the world's greatest polluter, last year built 38 gigawatts of coal power plants. That is one large coal-fired plant every week.

We have to ask ourselves: Why would China go to coal?

That is simple. It is because coal is reliable, and coal is low cost.

When we look at what our energy policies should be here in the United States and when we look at what will actually work for our economy and especially for the global environment, we should be asking ourselves: How do we make the most reliable, lowest cost, and the cleanest technology--technology that developing countries will adopt?

Because they are not going to adopt expensive technology. They are going to continue building old technology.

We have got to be the innovators if we truly want to affect the global environment.

Again, I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this important matter, and I appreciate the gentleman for hosting this Special Order.

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