Lower Energy Costs Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Chair, I rise today to support H.R. 1, the most important bill and the priority for this Congress.
When I came to Congress, I made it my mission to spread the word about the Permian Basin, the heartbeat of American energy and the largest secure supply of oil and gas.
I am incredibly proud to represent the men and women of the Permian Basin, who have revolutionized the way we produce energy in order to provide us with an incredible national security and economic asset.
Unfortunately, President Biden has demonized the very people that I represent. He has demonized the people of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
From his policies, like killing the Keystone XL pipeline and shutting down drilling permitting, but however, begging foreign dictators to produce more oil, his rhetoric, literally promising to end fossil fuels, he has used every tool in the toolkit to build a bureaucracy that is completely obsessed and opposed to killing American energy. His policies have driven energy costs and inflation through the roof.
Today, I say to the American public: You are going to hear a lot of misinformation about the Inflation Reduction Act, which did nothing to curb inflation.
Energy policies by this administration have increased costs for American families. Americans are being forced to pay 40 percent more on gasoline since the President took office, 20 to 30 percent more on their electricity bills. It is all in the name of a climate crusade, which can't even come close to what the Permian Basin and other producing areas in this country have done to reduce harmful emissions and provide affordable and clean reliable energy.
In fact, I spoke to the president of IPAA yesterday. What we just heard was that the Independent Producers of America support the Democrats' policies. That couldn't be further from the truth. I asked them that. They said no, industry was not consulted.
Over the past 10 years we have brought down methane emissions by almost 15 percent. No government mandate could come close to that. We are only beginning to tap into the incredible asset that is liquified natural gas. Not only is it good for our environment, but it is good for the economy.
We heard this when we took the Energy and Commerce Committee on the road and we talked to Mayor Blong in Midland, Texas, and we heard this from the producers. Today, we will likely continue to hear about Big Oil. The Big Oil boogeyman that doesn't actually exist.
The truth is, and I would face the Democrats, my friends and colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and tell you what the IPAA told us, and what they continue to tell us: 90 percent of our energy is produced by small, independent producers, companies that have 10, 20, 30 employees. Big Oil?
You are talking to the people of West Virginia when you say that. When Democrats and this administration blame Big Oil, they are talking about my district.
H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act is a complete rejection of the Biden administration's anti-energy policies that have been aimed at workers throughout this country for 2 years. We are fighting back. We want to produce American-made oil. We want to boost American products in order to reduce inflation.
I am extremely proud to have worked on this legislation that includes my bill to reduce taxes on natural gas. This is just the beginning. House Republicans are going to follow through on our commitment to the American public and on our commitment to American families.
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Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Chair, passing H.R. 1 is just the beginning. The American public put their trust in Republicans under Speaker McCarthy and Chair McMorris Rodgers to lower costs, and that is exactly what we are going to do by boosting American production instead of siding with Russia, Iran, and China.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to stand with America to pass H.R. 1.
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Mr. PFLUGER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of my amendment with Congressman Crenshaw.
The only thing dangerous about this is not implementing this, not moving at the speed of relevancy. That is what we are trying to accomplish here. I agree with my colleague from Texas (Mr. Crenshaw) that this should be bipartisan.
We should be allowing the States to do what they do to reduce those emissions. This amendment is critical to ensure the States can deploy carbon capture utilization and storage technologies.
As was mentioned, the Safe Drinking Water Act allows States to apply for primacy enforcement responsibility of underground injection control wells, including class 6 wells that are used for injection of CO
Only two States, North Dakota and Wyoming, currently have received a delegation of primary enforcement responsibility over class 6 wells. States' historic experience with handling these permits and the familiarity with their own geology translates to faster review times. It does not negatively impact drinking water. The freedom to craft those programs in a manner that makes sense the most should be relied upon at that local level.
Unfortunately, those applications for primacy are often held up with the EPA without any clarity. As you heard, those 270 days are completely unfortunate to moving at that speed of relevancy.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment, to pass this, to let the States do what they can do to help not only drinking water, but emissions control.
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