Repealing of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
Floor Speech
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Mr. PFLUGER. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague Mr. Duncan and Chair McMorris Rodgers for yielding. I appreciate the leadership of Gary Palmer on this particular legislation, H.R. 1023, the Cutting Green Corruption and Taxes Act.
As we sit here and listen, it has been pretty amusing. The reason we are here is because the American public is sick and tired of the games. The veil has been lifted. They know the facts. Affordability and reliability are the most important things, and we will get to the facts about the actual emissions that have been cut.
Let's just start with the fact that this natural gas tax is unworkable. It was included despite never being considered, never being talked about with stakeholders in places like the Permian Basin that I represent. There was never expert testimony that talked about how to work this in.
Instead of looking at emissions holistically, the natural gas tax was based on the single premise that if reliable energy is taxed, less of it will be produced.
Let's ask the American public if they are for that.
Especially as the EPA rolls out proposed rules to implement the natural gas tax, it is clear that we have to take action. There are dozens of rules that they are rolling out.
When we talked to the directors of the EPA when they came before Congress this year, they didn't even know how they were going to implement this. They haven't talked to stakeholders.
Why have they not been to the Permian Basin? Not a single person from the EPA has come to the largest producing area to see what we are doing, to see that in the last 12 to 15 years that we have increased production by 300 or 400 percent from 1 million barrels a day to over 5 million barrels, and we have reduced methane intensity by over 70 percent.
Why can't Administrator Regan or Director Nance or Mr. Goffman come to the Permian Basin and see what we have done? Not because the government has told them to do it, but because it makes economic sense because they are doing it from a business sense.
That is what you are not going to hear from my colleagues on the left. They are being driven from a radical, environmental activist position that doesn't represent what the country wants or needs.
I was pleased to host Speaker Johnson in Midland, Texas, this week to kick off energy week. The Speaker had a chance to meet with industry experts, people that know this business, people that have cut the emissions, people who do care about providing affordable, reliable energy as well as reducing harmful emissions.
They have been doing it. They have been doing it for years. It makes sense that Congress would come together and talk about reducing harmful emissions in a meaningful way.
Not a single industry expert has come to Congress and said that they want methane intensity to increase. What they don't want, or need is a new tax. What they don't want, or need is to assault the industry that literally won World War II for us, that has provided our partners and allies what they need because they aren't blessed with the resources that we are.
If this is implemented, the ill-conceived natural gas tax will handicap technological innovation, reduce the supply of affordable energy in this country and for our partners and allies, and it will increase not only costs, but emissions.
In fact, this tax alone will drive up the cost of household energy for 180 million Americans and over 5\1/2\ million businesses that rely on the natural gas tax. The underpinnings of our national security depend on us making smart decisions, producing energy here domestically, and not giving Vladimir Putin, the Iranians, or other nefarious actors a win.
Madam Speaker, I urge support for American energy, I urge support for domestic production, and I urge support for H.R. 1023.
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