Lower Energy Costs Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, the amendment that I am offering here directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, as we refer to it, to withdraw two policy statements that massively expand the role of climate hysteria in certification of natural gas infrastructure, like pipelines and LNG export terminals.
In February 2022, FERC released two radical policy statements that massively increased the role that the emissions play in its certification of natural gas pipelines and LNG export terminals, which are so critical to our ability to affect world consumption of gas so that we can drive down CO
This included requiring FERC to consider the upstream and downstream impact on emissions that building a new natural gas pipeline would have.
Even Senator Manchin said: ``The Commission went too far by prioritizing a political agenda over their main mission--ensuring our Nation's energy reliability and security.''
I want everybody to hear this. This move by FERC came 1 week before Russia invaded Ukraine. This administration is perfectly fine empowering our enemies to appease the climate activists, the climate cult. We saw it with Nord Stream 2. We see it right here.
We refuse to expand American energy right when we could be sticking it to Putin. Instead, we have everybody over here clamoring about what we need to do in Ukraine instead of having gotten in front of that by exporting American energy, by making sure that we control the world's supply of energy by putting out clean-burning American natural gas.
Just 1 week after FERC made this move, Russia invaded Ukraine, massively disrupting European natural gas supplies.
When the Western world was begging for U.S. LNG, this administration was giving them the middle finger to appease the climate cult.
Meanwhile, our enemies--China, Iran, Russia, Venezuela--are massively pumping out emissions. China has 1,100 coal-fired plants. They are adding two a week. We are not adding squat to our natural gas or coal production capacity.
Texas is about to be 50 percent wind and solar because we refuse to actually produce the coal and gas necessary to have power on a cloudy, windless day.
China accounts for 30 percent of global emissions--and increasing. Russian natural gas exports to Europe release 41 percent more emissions than U.S. LNG.
Bottom line: This administration's war on U.S. energy will not do a thing to help the environment but will hurt freedom and prosperity here and abroad.
We should accept this amendment. This amendment should be agreed to across the spectrum because it is good for American oil and gas. It is good for the world. It will actually help drive down CO
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Armstrong).
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I agree with my friend (Mr. Armstrong).
If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have no issues with the fact that they were amending these drafts and leaving it in draft form, we just want to give the certainty of saying to remove these. They were clearly a bad idea.
That is exactly what Senator Manchin was saying. Let's not go down this road.
This is the problem with FERC. FERC is becoming a radical organization that is inserting itself in places where it does not belong. When the executive branch oversteps its bounds, it is incumbent upon Congress, in Article I, to do something about it.
We are simply saying to pull these. Admit that this was a foolish direction to go, and let's ensure that we are sending a strong signal that we are pro-pipeline, pro-moving American LNG and making sure that we are exporting energy to the world that is actually clean burning and will help our economy, help push back on Putin, not make us reliable on China, and make us a heck of a lot stronger.
Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source