Lower Energy Costs Act
Floor Speech
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, this amendment is simple and straightforward. My amendment provides congressional disapproval of the denial of the Jordan Cove project permits.
The Jordan Cove project was an important liquefied natural gas proposal that would have been the only West Coast LNG export terminal and would have been essential to exporting LNG to our allies in the Pacific and freedom around the world.
The Department of Energy determined that the Jordan Cove project was expected to create 6,000 jobs during peak construction and generate up to $100 million in State and local tax revenue annually.
Importantly, this project would have allowed us to export clean liquefied natural gas to our allies, many of which have been dependent on energy from Russia, OPEC, Venezuela, and even Iran.
America makes the cleanest energy around the world. In fact, our natural gas is 42 percent cleaner than Russian gas. American innovation, in particular, fracking, has allowed America to be the global leader in emissions since 2000.
In 2016, the United States Geological Survey released a report that increased the estimate of technically recoverable natural gas in the Mancos shale deposit from 1.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to a staggering 66.3 trillion, a 40-fold increase.
David Ludlam, who worked for the West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said, there is enough natural gas to power the State of California for 50 years right in Colorado's Third District's backyard, and the need for our community to join the global energy marketplace has never been more urgent.
A West Coast LNG export terminal would have shaved critical days and significant costs off exports to Asia, eliminated threats associated with hurricanes, and reduced our reliance on the Panama Canal, which causes significant uncertainty and delays.
We should be advancing energy infrastructure projects to help ensure American energy dominance and help promote economic growth through a true all-of-the-above energy policy, not having elected politicians and bureaucrats pick winners and losers in the energy sector.
Importantly, Jordan Cove has significant bipartisan support. In fact, the project in Colorado was supported by former-U.S. Senator Cory Gardner, U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, former-Governor John Hickenlooper, the Colorado Senate, the liberal Denver Post, the liberal Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, and local governments in western Colorado, including Mesa, Garfield, Rio Blanco, Moffat, Routt, Delta, and many other counties and municipalities in my region.
While similar project proposals have languished for decades, Jordan Cove was on track for success after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted two Federal permits for the Jordan Cove Energy Project and issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity to the Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline in March of 2019.
Unfortunately, the anti-pipeline, anti-natural gas, liberal Governor's administration in Oregon denied the permits and the certificate necessary for these projects, essentially killing the project in December of 2021 when the company pulled out, citing their inability to obtain the necessary State permits in the immediate future.
If Green New Deal extremists in the Governor's office actually cared about the environment, they would have supported this project as natural gas emissions result in significantly fewer air pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions, and this important project would have advanced local, regional, and global emissions reduction goals.
Like the Keystone XL pipeline, Jordan Cove was a major opportunity killed by extreme environmentalists whose sole agenda isn't protecting the environment, isn't being good stewards of what we have been blessed with, but is keeping our American energy sources in the ground and killing off fossil fuels.
America deserves an American energy strategy that works for all Americans, and this amendment makes clear that we should not allow States with a misguided agenda to kill projects of national and global energy importance.
Mr. Chair, I support adoption of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Chairman, I rise in favor of my amendment which inserts my 90-Day Review Act into H.R. 1. My amendment will further improve H.R. 1's overall goal of ensuring reasonable timelines and predictability for projects by shortening the timeline to file a petition for judicial review of a permit, license, or approval of a major infrastructure project from 150 days to 90 days.
Frivolous litigation should not be a hurdle to critical infrastructure projects that will improve the lives of Americans across the country. For far too long, we have put trial lawyers' interests ahead of the American people. Burdensome litigation causes our hardworking men and women to sit idle on job sites as they wait on court processes.
It is far past time that Congress reduces the Federal Government's stranglehold on critical infrastructure projects and helps job creators put the American people to work.
By streamlining the Federal litigation timeline, my amendment will help reduce frivolous litigation, cut red tape, and help critical infrastructure projects move forward in a more timely manner. My amendment will reduce the amount of time it takes to construct real and important infrastructure projects like highways, bridges, railways, dams, and other important projects that will improve the lives of the people in my district and all across America.
Last Congress, we saw Democrats ram through a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill where only 9 percent of it actually went to infrastructure. Rather than focusing on meaningful reforms, this bill funded a slush fund at the Department of Energy for Green New Deal projects; tens of billions of dollars to subsidize the electric vehicle industry, establish programs to cool down pavement, reduce idling done by trucks, and even study racist roads and bridges. Yes, Mr. Chair, you heard that correctly.
Instead of spending time on this unpopular, America last agenda, House Republicans have proposed real reforms like this one, and it would cut red tape and speed up construction. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of my amendment as well as the underlying bill.
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Chairman, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman), the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.
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Mrs. BOEBERT. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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