Repealing of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my friend from Alabama, Mr. Palmer's bill.

As my colleagues have said, this bill primarily does two things: First of all, it repeals and rescinds the EPA's $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

Now, $27 billion is a significant amount of money, especially for an agency like--in this case the EPA--that has never operated a program like this. This money also has a requirement that it be spent in just the next couple of years. That is the opposite of fiscal responsibility. Who gives people money and says you have to spend it in this amount of time.

EPA's Office of Inspector General has noted that the combination of such large amounts of money in a short timeline to use it may lead to fraud, waste, and abuse, including being used by Chinese entities.

Consider the fact that U.S. emissions are already dropping and our solar, EV, and other industries are rapidly growing with plenty of incentives. Why would we risk or waste taxpayer dollars?

Eliminating the EPA's green bank slush fund will reduce the budget deficit, protect against government corruption, and stop China from receiving American taxpayer dollars.

Secondly, this bill will also repeal the EPA's proposed natural gas tax, which would increase energy costs for Americans and undermine U.S. manufacturing. This move will hinder our energy independence and competitiveness.

This administration continues to punish Americans for their own success while failing to address the most damaging actor on the global stage, and that is China.

Taking a look at the past 20 years, even if the U.S., EU, and Japan had cut all of their emissions by half and India had stayed stagnant, China alone polluted enough to cause a global increase in emissions.

My colleagues may say that China will follow our leadership. If that was the case, why are their emissions increasing while ours are decreasing?

Forgive me if I don't take seriously an administration that punishes Americans while doing nothing to compete with the country with emissions that are 80 percent higher than the U.S. and EU combined.

Madam Speaker, I support this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support it to tackle the real energy problems.

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