The HEAT Report
The HEAT Report is a weekly newsletter focusing on how members of the House Energy Action Team (HEAT) promote American energy security, and an all-of-the-above energy economy.
The Latest:
This week, the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats have decided to focus their efforts on raising the nation's debt ceiling in order to pay for their out-of-control tax-and-spending spree. American families will once again be left holding the bag for this irresponsible spending at a time when they are already struggling to put gifts under the tree and gasoline in their cars. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed this week that the Democrats' big government socialist spending bill will cost our country over $4.9 trillion — far from being fully paid for like they promised.
Instead of working to curb inflation — which is at its highest point in nearly 40 years — President Biden wants to ratchet up spending. This move shows just how out of touch the Biden Administration is with the rest of America.
While Secretary Granholm claims that she doesn't want to "fight" with our domestic oil and gas producers, the Biden Administration started the fight through an onslaught of policies to restrict domestic energy production. Until the Administration reverses course, energy prices will continue to increase for families across the country and make America even more reliant on OPEC and Russia to produce our oil for us. On top of that, the Biden Administration's climate agenda will benefit countries like China and Russia who will continue to emit carbon at drastically higher rates while picking up the millions of jobs that will be lost here in America.
President Biden must stop trying to appease green activists and out-of-touch liberal elites and prioritize an all-of-the-above energy strategy that returns America to global energy dominance and makes energy affordable again for hardworking families.
This Week's HEAT Member Highlights:
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.)spoke on the House Floor ridiculing President Biden for releasing 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to confront his Administration's self-created energy crisis.
Representative Rick Allen (R-Ga.) led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to the Treasury Department requesting guidance to be issued for the Advanced Nuclear Production Tax Credit.
Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change Ranking Member David McKinley, P.E. (R-W. Va.) introduced H.R. 6187, the Coal Council Certainty Act of 2021, which would codify the National Coal Council's charter that the Energy Department allowed to lapse last month. This would reverse the Biden Administration's decision and preserve the Council's advisory role to the Secretary of Energy with respect to coal policy, technology, and markets.
HEAT Co-Chair Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) gave a speech on the House Floor slamming Congressional Democrats for distracting from the real problems facing hardworking Americans like the skyrocketing cost of gas.
Representative Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) toured a Huck's gas station in Newburgh, Ind., to discuss the impacts of President Biden's self-created energy crisis on Indiana residents.
Representative Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.) joinedRepublican Leader of the Energy and Commerce Committee Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) in sending a letter fighting back against Energy Secretary Granholm's burdensome dishwasher regulations.
Representative August Pfluger (R-Texas)led a bipartisan group of House colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden urging him to avoid a crude oil export ban.
Representative Ron Estes (R-Kan.) was featured in the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association newsletter for introducing the Marginal Well Protection Act in October, which would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from levying excessive methane emission fees for wells that produce less than 15 barrels of oil per day and less than 90,000 cubic feet of natural gas per day.
Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) is sending a letter to President Biden regarding the stringent methane regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). These regulations are duplicative to the Clean Air Act and exceed statutory authority provided to the EPA. The proposal on new and existing sources of methane comes on the heels of the Methane CRA as well as the punitive methane fee in Congressional Democrats' multi-million-dollar tax-and-spending spree. These regulations will increase already high energy prices and eliminate American jobs. This is another example of the Biden Administration's attack on the oil and gas industry making it harder for them to produce energy, while having a counterproductive impact on their successful initiatives to reduce methane emissions.
Energy News:
House GOP Actions:
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Republican Leader of the Energy and Commerce Committee Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), and Energy Subcommittee Ranking Member Fred Upton (R-Mich.) introduced a bill to protect the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and strengthen America's energy security. The Strategic Production Response Act would require the Secretary of Energy to develop a plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands if the President uses the SPR for non-emergency reasons.
Headlines:
- Americans fear return to 1970s-era inflation as rate surges to highest level in decades (Fox News)
- Build Back Better proponents leverage high prices to promote energy revolution (Washington Examiner)
- Biden wants to make federal government carbon neutral by 2050 (Washington Post)
- Energy Crisis in Europe Intensifies With Russian Troops on Ukraine Border (Wall Street Journal)
- U.S. fuel demand surges to a record on buzzing holiday activity - EIA (Reuters)
The Response on Social Media:
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) noted a U.S. Labor Department report showing that inflation across the country has reached a 39-year-high as hardworking Americans experience sharp increases in their cost of living.
Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change Ranking Member David McKinley, P.E. (R-W. Va.)called out President Biden for his self-created energy crisis and causing gas prices to exponentially increase, leading to affordability concerns for millions of Americans across the nation.
Representative Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.)criticized President Biden for his anti-American energy and anti-worker policies that have led to inflation hitting record levels.