Electricity Security and Affordability Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCARTHY of California. Mr. Chairman, in 2008 in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, President Obama warned us that under his policies for energy, ``electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket.'' Now it appears with high electricity costs, that this is a promise that the President chose to keep.

Today, millions of Americans are suffering from one of the coldest winters in recent memory, and in some cases, the most expensive. In New York, some homes are seeing their heating bills double, but it doesn't have to be this way. The U.S. is currently enjoying a revolution in energy production, the energy that heats our homes and keeps us warm during the cold winter nights. Americans across the country should be celebrating this breakthrough. In an economy where the Nation's income today is lower than in the year 2000, abundant energy should provide a sense of relief to strained budgets, but because of this administration's policies, Americans are simply left out in the cold with their energy bills.

First, the Democrats tried cap-and-trade, but that failed in a Democrat-led Congress. Now this administration has proposed arguably the most expensive regulation ever by the EPA, one that would render the construction of any future coal power plant impossible through the mandating of technology that isn't readily attainable.

Today, coal accounts for 37 percent of total U.S. electricity production. The EPA's regulation will cost approximately $1,200 per household per year in lost income. That is $100 more a month. Most importantly, this regulation will cause the greatest amount of harm, lost jobs, diminished incomes, and higher electricity bills in areas where incomes are modest, as are the lifestyles of those who live there. It isn't the rich on Fifth Avenue or in Beverly Hills who will be impacted; it is the American working class. Communities like Indiana's Second District, home to our good friend, Congresswoman Jackie Walorski; or Ohio's Fourth District, home to our friend Jim Jordan; or the First District, home to Chairman Ryan; or even Wisconsin's Second or Iowa's First District, both represented by my colleagues on the other side. All will be unnecessarily hurt by this regulation.

For all the talk from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle about fairness, this regulation is profoundly unfair. The Electricity Security and Affordability Act sponsored by my friend, Ed Whitfield, rejects the administration's back door attacks on America's energy bills. This legislation restores opportunity and fairness by ensuring more American paychecks do not unnecessarily go to expanding electricity and heating costs.

Mr. Chairman, at a time when energy production is booming, the cost per family should be dropping, not rising. I suppose the President actually held true to another promise: he has promised an all-the-above energy policy. I had hoped that meant increasing energy production from all sources, not increasing prices on all consumers.

I urge my colleagues to reject the President's plan for higher energy costs and support this legislation.

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