Lower Energy Costs Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Chair, I rise today to voice my support for H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act. This is about clean, reliable, and affordable energy.

My constituents in the 17th Congressional District are feeling the pain at the pump, on their electric bills and their home heating costs, and in almost every single one of their purchases due to the increase in energy costs under the Biden administration.

Gas prices have risen over 51 percent since President Biden took office. Residential electrical costs in New York State have risen over 26 percent since President Biden took office, 24 percent nationwide. Utility gas is up 44 percent.

In just the last year, energy costs in the New York metropolitan region are up almost 10 percent. Not only does the cost of energy take a toll on families across America, but it has a compounding effect throughout the supply chain, driving prices of groceries and food ever higher.

This out-of-control inflation has created a massive crunch on the budgets of middle-class families across New York State, but perhaps no more so than right in the Hudson Valley where folks are facing energy bills in the thousands of dollars every month just to heat and power their homes.

It is fueling the affordability crisis in New York State, and it is exactly why I am proud to support H.R. 1, which will restore our Nation's energy independence by increasing the production and export of domestic energy while reducing the regulatory burdens that stifle American energy.

We need an all-of-the-above approach that includes gas, nuclear, and renewables. That has been emphatically clear for years.

Making America more dependent on foreign energy adds more pollution, not less, to our climate. H.R. 1 unleashes American energy and will drive down inflation, providing Hudson Valley families with the real relief they so desperately need.

Just some facts: 60 percent of New Yorkers rely on natural gas, and 70 percent of our electricity is generated by natural gas.

We have had a 60 percent reduction in greenhouse gases because of natural gas, greater than renewables. Those are the facts, and that is why we need to pass H.R. 1.

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