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Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I rise today in light of the news that John Kerry, America's climate czar, will soon be leaving his post. Mr. Kerry's exit presents, I think, us with an opportunity to comprehensively reexamine the Biden administration's record on energy and the environment.

For 3 years now while Mr. Kerry has been there, we have had energy regulation after energy regulation, climate mandate after climate mandate; and President Biden has clearly and unapologetically put the American people last.

His Cabinet Secretaries and unelected staff members from the State Department to the EPA, from the White House to the U.S. Department of Transportation, have followed his lead. They have pushed an unworkable, untenable agenda meant to appease the global climate community and environmental activists alike.

The problem is that these goals and proposals are completely detached from reality. Well, let's just start with Mr. Kerry's recent comments:

There shouldn't be any more coal-fired power plants permitted anywhere in the world.

Followed by him signing an international pledge to do just that.

Well, that is a big statement for someone in his position, yet he has outlined no plan to replace this baseload energy source that is critical to our Nation and, really, critical around the world, especially in these winter months on days like we see today and this past week where we have had record freezing--and below-freezing-- temperatures.

He makes comments like this but does not acknowledge that States like mine--West Virginia--or States like Michigan, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Colorado all rely heavily on coal-fired power plants for our electricity.

Acknowledging this reality would not be wise for Mr. Kerry because decimating the entire electric grid of dozens of States across the country and the thousands--tens of thousands of jobs that go with it would not be a good look for the administration.

So they never quite get to the next point of what would happen if we actually followed what he is saying. But not to fear, the EPA has Mr. Kerry's back when it comes to threatening America's energy grid with policies that are just not based in reality.

Despite the Supreme Court knocking down the Obama administration's previous attempt to close down coal- and gas-fired power plants in West Virginia v. EPA, the Biden administration has doubled down on this reckless policy. The Clean Power Plan 2.0 is, again, designed to prematurely force the retirement of these power plants and require the use of technologies that are not nearly ready for prime time.

Unfortunately for the American people, by the time the courts catch up, as they did before, a lot of the damage is done. Jobs are lost, the electric grid is undetermined and undermined, and the lives of entire communities are disrupted. Believe me, I know this firsthand. We lived through this in West Virginia during the Obama administration, and I would not wish it on any other parts of this country.

But the Biden administration is not stopping there. In a mind- boggling display of irony, the EPA is simultaneously pushing a rapid transition to electric vehicles. What do you have to use for that? That would be more electricity.

So let's look at what happened this week. In Iowa, we saw how cold it was during the caucuses, below zero everywhere. Many Americans faced a cold snap this week across the country, but owners of EVs were stuck because, No. 1, the EVs couldn't hold a charge in the cold weather and, No. 2, they found they couldn't even charge them at the charging stations.

A rapid and unreasonable transition to these vehicles--and I am not anti-electric vehicle at all--with serious reliability concerns would also increase electricity demand as the Agency works to shut down reliable baseload energy sources of power. It makes no sense.

And, again, ignoring reality, the Biden administration just carries on. More recently, the EPA announced a tax on energy companies through a methane fee, using the Democrats' really disastrous Inflation Reduction Act to target and penalize American energy producers. And, currently, a complex set of cases is winding through the courts on the topic of the EPA's so-called good neighbor air regulation.

This policy would take away the authority of 23 States, mine included, to determine how best to regulate ozone and reduce emissions in their own borders, which is what the Clean Air Act calls for, an alarming consolidation of power for Washington bureaucrats.

The EPA's approach ignores the cooperative Federalism framework of the Clean Air Act and deprives the States of their rights to regulate first. Our States know our States better than the Federal Government. Twelve States have already been successful in convincing courts that this program has serious legal challenges and issues, and that the courts have issued stays of the rule.

And this was all followed then by the EPA's disastrous Waters of the U.S., better known in these Halls as WOTUS, which illegally expanded the jurisdiction of the Federal Government at the expense of American farmers, builders, and private landowners.

Unsurprisingly, this was roundly rejected by the Supreme Court-- including a 9-to-0 agreement that the scope of the proposal went way too far.

Yet even as the highest Court in the land sends clear warning signals that President Biden's energy and environmental overreach is illegal, those down the street at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue just don't seem to care.

We have seen the resounding theme of Federal overreach, not just at Departments and Agencies but also directly from the White House.

As the administration is touting investments being made in our Nation's infrastructure, a bill that I roundly and soundly supported and also helped to create, the White House Council on Environmental Quality--better known as CEQ--has actually proposed making it harder to build and complete these projects.

So on the one hand, we are going to create a huge program for infrastructure; on the other hand, we are going to restrict how you build, when you build, how much it costs to build, and if you can build at all. They have championed burdensome permitting rules and redtape regulations, none of which--none of which--were agreed to by this Congress. And the White House Office of Management and Budget--better known as OMB--published a governmentwide mandate on Agencies to consider its flawed ``social cost of greenhouse gases'' metrics.

Well, I have asked for transparency here because I want to know how these numbers are developed and used, and I have gotten no substantive answers in response. It is crickets over there when I ask these questions. All we have received are broad public pronouncements that these numbers are to be used by Departments and Agencies when purchasing any goods or services in this time of high inflation and supply cost issues and when reviewing any proposed energy or infrastructure projects as they see fit.

Again, the irony is astounding for those of us looking at this from a realistic point of view. The same White House boasting about infrastructure investments--I am going to repeat--and growth is simultaneously hamstringing itself with climate mandates and memos that will impact millions of workers, families, and employers across this country, with all of the details hidden out of the sight of the American people.

After 3 years, there is a clear message President Biden and Mr. Kerry need to hear, regulations meant to signal climate action that don't follow the law and aren't based in reality are not the answer.

There is a better way--one that will unite us and actually make our Nation and world healthier and stronger. I have said so many times that our energy and environmental policies do not have to be at odds. So instead of targeting natural gas production, which was the major reason America reduced its emissions in the last 20 years, we should continue to support it. Doing so will boost our American energy, make for a cleaner environment, a better environment, and help our allies abroad, all at the same time.

We can also support the future expansion of nuclear energy, which holds great promise. It is emissions free. It is a linchpin of America's energy grid by enacting these policies that will drive development here on our shores and help us grow.

And we could move ahead with permits for carbon capture, use, and storage, in States who want to harness innovative technologies like mine, create jobs, and protect the environment at the same time and use natural gas, coal, as long as we can, because it is abundant in this country.

There is room for all of that, if we would just stop the hyperbole and the alarmism that is so often encountered when discussing this issue. When I and so many Americans hear somebody say ``shut it all down'' comments from the ``climate czar'' that are then mirrored in actual regulations from the Federal Government, it just is not helpful. And I believe that history will show and has shown that it only hurts us.

So as Mr. Kerry exits the administration, let's take stock of the path the Biden administration has taken us down. And it is clear we must reverse course; we must leave behind the unworkable proposals and job-killing overreach and work together to allow realistic solutions to thrive right here in America.

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