Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024
Floor Speech
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Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment, which would prohibit funds to implement the final EPA rule titled: ``Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act.''
Mr. Chair, on December 7, 2009, this rule was signed by the EPA Administrator, and it found that six greenhouse gases endanger both the public health and the public welfare of humans, specifically emissions from motor vehicles.
Since this rule has been implemented, we have seen some of the most radical and asinine decisions and regulations come from the executive branch. This includes strict regulations on car emissions and the Big Government attempt to dismantle the gas-powered vehicle. It includes power plant regulations that have shut down coal plants, killing thousands of jobs along the way. It includes the use of taxpayer dollars to bribe people into buying electric vehicles and solar panels with someone else's money. It includes the Paris climate accord, a terrible deal that sold America's sovereignty to international bureaucrats in exchange for energy poverty here at home, all while China and India get to continue increasing their emissions for decades.
What have the American people gotten from these policies? Nothing.
These policies cost hundreds of billions of dollars, and the American people are left scratching their heads, looking for what their benefit is.
The worst part is that these policies do more harm than good because the radical environmentalists have gotten their way in the past decade, and the American people are left dealing with the fallout.
In California, we have seen brownouts and blackouts as a result of the closure of coal plants. We have seen skyrocketing prices at the pumps because this administration won't expand drilling or fracking in United States territory.
In Texas, during Winter Storm Uri, we saw a horrible blackout 2 years ago because of its dependency on unreliable sources of energy. To think that, in the 21st century, Americans would have to face these challenges and, in the case of Texas, that Americans would freeze to death--over 150 people froze to death--is unacceptable. It is all because we want to prevent the use of energy that creates carbon emissions.
News flash: We depend as a nation on coal, natural gas, and oil. Without it, we are a poor nation.
The benefits of using our resources outweigh the potential cost of emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The regulation that this amendment defunds is the root of the environmental insanity we have been dealing with for the past decade. It is time to show the American people that we have their backs and that we are done appeasing the radical environmentalists.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Chairman, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle argue that greenhouse gases are an endangerment that we need to eliminate. This is a one-sided view that completely ignores the enormous benefits that fossil fuels have had while only focusing on the rise in temperatures.
Their climate hysteria assumes that any warming is caused by these gases and that it is a catastrophe. That is simply not accurate and ignores the destruction that is caused by their agenda.
Just ask the hundreds of people, many of whom lost their lives in Texas during Winter Storm Uri. Just ask the energy-poor nations around the world that have a much lower standard of living than us.
The endangerment rule, which my amendment defunds, is based on a narrow, one-sided view that refuses to look at the ramifications of banning fossil fuels.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of this amendment, which would prohibit funds to Executive Order No. 14507, ``Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability.''
This executive order is another example of how this administration is more than willing to waste the taxpayers' time and energy in furthering a radical climate agenda. It manipulates the Federal Government that they must achieve a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035 and net zero emissions no later than 2050.
The text of the order declares that the Federal Government will lead by example and cut out carbon emissions.
However, is this administration really leading by example?
Has John Kerry stopped using private jets?
Has Pete Buttigieg?
Of course not. This hypocrisy is exactly why I filed this amendment.
The amendment defunds an executive order that wastes taxpayer dollars and continues our country down a path of dangerous energy policies. Unfortunately, this administration knows this is the result of the order, and they are more than willing to place these burdens on the American people. They are willing to waste money in reconfiguring buildings and buying fleets of new electric vehicles all on the backs of our taxpayers. They are also in favor of new regulations that will suppress our energy industries.
Nonetheless, do you know what, Mr. Chairman?
They will be fine because they don't have to feel the repercussions of their policies. It will be everyday Americans who will see their utility bills go up. It will be our constituents who are left unable to pay their bills or afford gas. It will be the average person who is experiencing blackouts because we have shifted towards unreliable sources of electricity instead of reliable baseload energy sources.
Again, those who drafted this executive order won't have to feel the pain. They only care about furthering a radical agenda that is impossible to achieve.
The attempt to reach a 100 percent carbon-free America can only happen after our reliable energy sectors are dismantled and our way of life is destroyed. The energy sector that they want to dismantle is what made America a rich and prosperous nation. Coal, natural gas, and nuclear energy are the answers to the future which demands more electricity than we can ever fathom today, not the types of reforms that the other side calls for.
We only need to look at California or winter storm Uri in Texas as examples of why traditional energy sources are so vital. This executive order only hurts the American people and pushes us down a road that leads to a weaker, poorer, and less prosperous country.
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Mr. BURLISON. Mr. Chairman, instead of focusing on a misguided climate policy, we should instead focus on sources of energy that help our society grow and flourish. Energy sources such as wind and solar claim to be sustainable, but they are often backed up with the more reliable sources of energy such as coal, natural gas, and nuclear.
Wind and solar also use vast amounts of raw materials and land and have their own environmental issues. The cost of using these energy sources and abandoning fossil fuels is simply misguided. Fossil fuels help humans flourish, and we should protect these fuels by defunding this executive order.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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