Support Increased Domestic Energy Production
Floor Speech
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Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my friend from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan), for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I want us to take a moment to reflect tonight, reflect where our country has been and where our country is going. I think about my grandparents who grew up in a home that didn't even have electricity, didn't have running water. Even my parents were young when they got electricity in their home.
Madam Speaker, it was just 150 years ago when the main source of energy in this country was wood fuel. We have come a long way in this country. We have seen a better way of life. We have seen nicer things because of the technology and innovation that we have had in this country.
Our energy policy should be the same energy policy that got us to where we are today because we have a bright future ahead. That energy policy is simply to provide the cleanest energy possible for the lowest cost possible.
We shouldn't discriminate against energy sources. Energy is energy. It is carbon atoms. It is hydrogen. It is the energy that we have that we convert to things like electrical energy. Just because one energy is viewed as dirtier than another energy doesn't mean that, someday, that energy can't be clean energy.
If we look at recent developments, it wasn't long ago that natural gas was an expensive form of energy. It wasn't in abundant supply. Through technology, we have been able to release vast amounts of natural gas across our country.
As a matter of fact, we are seeing a lot of coal plants converted to natural gas, not because of regulatory requirements but because of the economic benefits of burning natural gas, clean natural gas. We know the control technologies to get very high combustion rates and also the ability to capture the NO
It wasn't that long ago that we didn't think we had enough natural gas. Because of great technology, we can experience an environment here in the United States where our carbon emissions are actually dropping.
We shouldn't punish one energy source over another energy source. We should strive to use technology to make energy as low-cost and as clean as possible.
We can do this, whether it is renewables, solar, wind, biomass. All of those are valid sources of energy that we can, hopefully, learn how to capture, to distribute in a manner that people can enjoy all across the country in a way that gives consumers reliable supplies at a low cost.
With this, we will see our economy continue to grow. We will see our quality of life improve. It is really not something that should be partisan or that we should argue about, simply to provide energy at a low cost.
Let's look at transportation fuel. Some are in favor of doing away with all fossil fuels in transportation. What would that do to our environment?
If we look at global emissions across the world, the United States is responsible for 15 percent of carbon emissions throughout the world. If we look at that a little bit closer and break it down on transportation fuels, transportation fuels account for 27 percent of carbon emissions in the United States. Twenty-seven percent of 15 percent is only about 4 percent.
If we did away with all gasoline, all diesel fuels, got rid of all combustion engines, if we did away with jet fuel, with ships, if we took fossil fuels out of every form of transportation in the United States, it would wreak havoc on our economy. It would wreak havoc on our way of life. But it would reduce global carbon emissions only by around 4 percent.
There is a better, smarter way to do that. Let's take the abundant energy that we have. Let's apply our wonderful research facilities, the great minds and innovators that we have in America. We can figure out how to use all of our energy sources in a low-cost, clean way. We can all continue to experience a brighter future ahead.
I thank my colleague for hosting this time tonight where we can, hopefully, get some of the facts and common sense about energy out on the table.
Just remember, as low-cost and as clean as possible, that is a winning formula for American energy.
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