ORLANDO, Fla.—House Republicans plan to put an omnibus “unleash America’s energy” bill that would open the throttle on domestic oil/gas production, build more pipelines, and improve refineries for expanded exports onto the chamber floor for adoption before the end of March.
“Next week, there will be a great debate on the floor and we’ll send [the bill] to the Senate,” said Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who is sponsoring the measure, gleaned from nearly two dozen other bills filed by Republican lawmakers since January.
With Republicans regaining the House majority after the November 2022 midterm elections, GOP leadership is charting a 180-degree reversal in energy policy from the one carved by Democrats over the past four years that saw concerns about climate change, environmental protection, and renewable power pushed as “green energy” emphases.
Republicans say President Joe Biden’s “rush to green energy” policies included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is responsible for inflation and for weakening United States energy independence.
Bills within that package mandate 30-day federal approval of “cross-border energy infrastructure,” or pipelines; call for removal of “public interest” as a categorical review when the U.S. Department of Energy weighs natural gas export proposals; repeals the federal Natural Gas Tax; prohibits a president from banning fracking by executive order; and requires the National Petroleum Council to research U.S. refinery capacity and needs.
Two resolutions among the measures express there should be “no restrictions” on oil and gas exports and express disapproval of Biden’s revocation of the Keystone XL pipeline permit.
Most of the bills in the GOP House package are incorporated into Scalise’s HR 1, a designation—No. 1—that is the “first bill” to come to the floor of the 2023-24 Congressional session proposed by lawmakers since January and a “statement,” Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) said.
Energy Is GOP Top Priority
“This is an important debate for this country,” Duncan said, noting that energy costs have increased by 37.2 percent since Biden came into office in January 2021. “It is a statement that the push to lower energy costs and make energy affordable, reliable, and secure for this nation” is Republicans’ top priority in the next two years.“You can see what is happening across the country— people who cannot afford to live. They can’t pay the rent, buy groceries,” Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) said. “Everyone is affected by what is happening” with gas prices.
Graves said the Biden administration is “committed to reducing emissions” while ignoring trade-offs, The result, he said, is “not only have we seen prices increase” but the administration has blazed “a pathway that is making us more dependent on our adversaries” for basic energy needs and the critical minerals needed for everything from solar panels to batteries for electric vehicles.
The U.S. has ample oil and natural gas, Scalise said, so many Americans are confused as to why the Biden administration has “reached out” to Russia [before its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine], Saudi Arabia, and Iran to import oil.
“There is no reason for it. We can lower energy costs” by producing more domestic energy, he said. “The fact that we made it House Resolution 1 shows how important it is for the country.”
HR 1 also calls for a renewed emphasis on domestic mining, which Rep. Peter Stauber (R-Minn.) said is essential to supply the energy and critical minerals that are key to the future.
“Food, energy is either grown or mined. Without [mining], it does not exist,” said Stauber. “We just talked about renewables [but] every windmill requires 3,000-to-5,000 pounds of copper and solar panels have critical minerals” in them.
Stauber said 15 of 19 mines that produce critical minerals such as cobalt “in the Congo are owned by Chinese companies” which makes acquiring minerals from there ”unethical, immoral” because the mines use child labor.
“That is unacceptable when you have [energy] right here. This administration wants to mine everywhere but [in] America,” he said.
Bills Held for Two Years
Scalise said many of the bills included in HR 1 have been circulating for more than two years. Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “would not bring these bills up,” he said.Asked if the measure is more “messaging” than substantive in terms of traction in the Democrat-controlled Senate, he said there are 23 Democratic senators from “energy states” who will have a difficult time explaining their opposition to constituents.
“It is amazing to see that there are people in the Senate and the White House who would like to see us dependent on imports for our energy,” Scalise said. “Why would they want to be dependent on foreign nations like Iran, Venezuela, and Russia?”
There are components in omnibus bill, such as permitting reform, that Democrats “are interested in,” he said, noting that Biden and Senate Democrats opposed the recently adopted DC crime bill but eventually endorsed it.
“Once they saw it come out of the House with bipartisan support, the Senate felt the pressure, President Biden felt the pressure,” Scalise said.
Graves dismissed criticism that HR 1 is an “oil and gas” bill, noting investments and regulatory incentives for solar, wind, and renewable energies are “all part” of it.
Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) said the GOP emphases is “not about deregulation. It is about letting states and people do their jobs in a reasonable manner.”
The Biden administration and Democrats “want to keep [oil, gas, minerals] in the ground” through litigation and permitting. The longer it takes to get things out of the ground, the harder it is to raise capital,” Armstrong said. “We have turned the weapons of government against” the nation’s energy industries.
“American families are paying 40 percent more now than they were two years ago for energy,” Scalise said. “Families are fed up and Republicans are fed up, so we are taking action.”
