Powering the Future

Statement

With the days are getting shorter and colder, more families need to keep warm, put the lights on earlier, and travel for the holidays. Paying for energy will increasingly be on our minds throughout winter.

But all year round, everyone pays the price of energy. Whether it is turning on the air conditioning or the heat, energy makes it possible.

When energy is expensive, so is everything that requires energy--anything that must be shipped or transported. Low energy prices mean more money in the pockets of energy users and consumers.

No one wants to be worrying about their energy bill in the weeks leading up to Christmas. And yet millions of Americans around the country still have to do just that.

Last winter, it was reported that 23,000 households in Pennsylvania had to go without heat. They deserve an energy infrastructure system that works for them--one that provides an abundant supply of secure, affordable energy.

The good news is that the American economy is producing petroleum at a record pace. The bad news is that government is keeping it from producing even more.

With the American economy changing at an increasingly rapid pace, it is ever more important that our laws and regulations keep up. The challenges we face today are different from the ones we faced a decade ago when many federal energy laws were written.

Thanks to technological advances, American companies have been able to extract more crude oil from the ground than was ever possible before. As a direct result, gas prices have dropped from a national average of $4.11 per gallon in July 2008 to just over $2.28 in Pennsylvania today.

Just seven years ago, policymakers thought that American oil had reached its peak, and were worried that we would soon run out. Today, the United States is the largest petroleum producer in the world.

Meanwhile, the federal government's permitting process for energy projects is a morass of red tape. In August, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a regulation, the so-called "clean power rule," that requires states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. States already have enough on their plate, but the EPA has decided that they have even more to do now. In total, America's governors must reduce carbon emissions by 32% by 2030, even as populations and economies grow.

This week, President Obama took part in United Nations negotiations intended to make even more pledges for new austerity measures on American energy.

We need to take care of our environment, but without hurting those 23,000 families who can't afford heat. It's easy for federal bureaucrats to find new work for states to do on their behalf. What is difficult is creating an economy in which everyone has access to affordable and reliable electricity. That is the goal of the House.

Back in March, the House passed legislation to require the EPA to get Congressional approval for any new emissions requirements it would place on states. Congress, elected by and accountable to the People, should write the laws--not unelected bureaucrats. In June we passed a bill, the Ratepayer Protection Act, that would ensure that states do not have to comply it until it is proven in court to be legal.

The House has also taken other steps to require Congressional review of regulations, including the REINS Act and the Regulatory Accountability Act. These bills would require Congressional approval of the most expensive new regulations, and require regulation to be done in the least expensive way possible.

In short, the problem is not in the private sector: it's in the government. But it can be fixed.

This week, the House passed three more bills that would modernize American energy infrastructure, and keep the lights on for Pennsylvania families.

The first bill originated in the Energy and Commerce Committee, on which I serve, and compiles a variety of proposals from a diverse group of Representatives. Among other things, this bill would loosen federal restrictions on exports, allowing a new influx of funding to come into the United States. The other two pieces of legislation would stop the Clean Power Plan from going into effect.

Every one of those 23,000 Pennsylvania households deserves an energy infrastructure that is up to date. We will keep working until no one is left out in the cold.

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