House Passes Energy Bill that Will Increase Domestic Energy Production and Lower Costs for Consumers
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1 today, an extensive package of energy policies aimed at increasing domestic energy production, easing permitting delays for new infrastructure and lowering energy costs for consumers. The House passed the bill by a vote of 225-204. Senate Democrats have said the bill is “dead on arrival” in the upper chamber.
Director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment Myron Ebell said:
“Congratulations to the new House Republican majority for passage of the Lowering Energy Costs Act on a bipartisan vote. Unfortunately, Senate Democrats and President Joe Biden are still opposed to lowering energy costs. In fact, Biden’s agenda is all about raising energy costs, which will reward corporate special interests at the expense of hard-pressed American families.”
Deputy Director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment and senior fellow Daren Bakst said:
“Today’s vote is a victory for all Americans, because everyone needs affordable and abundant energy. What we don’t need are heavy-handed and extreme environmental efforts to centrally plan how we produce and use energy. Some policymakers think it’s ok to tell people how they should live their lives, going as far as trying to dictate what appliances can be used in our kitchens. They think it’s ok to drive up energy prices even if it means hurting ordinary Americans, especially low-income Americans. H.R. 1 pushes back against this harmful mindset and recognizes that low energy prices are a great thing, not a bad thing.”
Senior fellow Ben Lieberman said:
“In addition to the provisions that revive American energy production, HR 1 has many other useful measures. This includes an amendment to curtail the regulatory war on gas stoves, as well as provisions to stop some of the wasteful spending in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act such as the $27 billion dollar Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Overall, there are a lot of reasons to support this bill.”
Senior fellow Marlo Lewis said:
“H.R. 1 repeals the methane tax included in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act. As America’s first chief justice warned long ago, ‘The power to tax involves the power to destroy.’ The methane tax is an implicit declaration of war on all U.S. fossil-energy production. Upending that dangerous precedent would be reason enough to enact H.R. 1 even if it did not include so many other meritorious provisions to secure abundant and affordable energy for the American people.”
More from CEI:
- Bakst: Amendments to H.R. 1: The Very Good, the Good, and the Ugly
- Bakst: Three Important Policy Reforms in H.R 1
Lieberman: Can HR 1 Rekindle The Blue Flame Of Freedom?