Cindy Hyde-Smith: Biden's Energy Policies Are 'Driving Us Straight Toward A Cliff'

7 months ago

During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) spoke about Biden's energy policies.

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Transcript

00:00 with its consistent attacks on our nation's energy supply and production.

00:05 These attacks are happening as Americans continue to suffer through the burden of

00:10 record inflation caused by this administration. Energy is the lifeblood

00:17 of civilization, lighting our homes, fueling our transportation, powering

00:22 innovation, and for those of us in rural America, heating our poultry houses much

00:27 like the area where you and I come from, Madam President. Energy of all forms, from

00:33 oil and gas to nuclear to wind to solar, not only powers our world but it

00:39 protects our world. To threaten any energy source is to threaten the

00:44 vitality of our nation and its communities. But from day one, President

00:50 Biden did just that. It started with a barrage of excessive executive orders

00:55 aimed at American energy production, including the cancellation of the

01:01 Keystone XL pipeline, and only got worse from there. Agencies under this

01:07 administration have been emboldened to ram through harmful policies and rules

01:13 that are driving us straight toward a cliff. The Department of Interior

01:19 continues to hold domestic energy production back by releasing a five-year

01:25 leasing plan for oil and gas production that contains the lowest amount of lease

01:31 sales in history, with the option for the Secretary to cancel any one of them as

01:38 she deems necessary. The Bureau of Land Management has issued rules that weaken

01:45 our domestic energy production and create additional more red tape. The

01:51 Environmental Protection Agency has issued rules that weaken our domestic

01:56 energy production and limit consumer choice for vehicles. The Department of

02:01 Energy has issued rules that weaken our domestic energy production, limit

02:07 consumer choice for natural gas appliances in our houses, and place a

02:13 pause on liquefied natural gas export. Makes no sense. Even the Securities and

02:22 Exchange Commission has now decided it wants to get involved with climate

02:27 policy, releasing a greenhouse gas disclosure rule that would lead to

02:32 mountains of burdensome paperwork for companies and higher costs for consumers.

02:39 The SEC is meant to protect investors, facilitate capital formation, and

02:46 maintain markets. It has absolutely no authority to address political or social

02:52 issues, much less serve as a climate change task master. If you threw a

02:59 dart at a dartboard labeled with all the Biden agencies that have a hand in

03:05 targeting energy production, chances are that you will hit an agency that has

03:10 committed an overreach of its statutory authority. The administration continues

03:17 to slow walk permitting, most recently attacking LNG facilities for climate

03:24 considerations, whatever that is. Well, is the administration aware that by

03:30 continuing to ignore the law and not holding lease sales in the Gulf of

03:35 Mexico, it hamstrings future GOMESA funds that would come back to the Gulf

03:41 States to support critical coastal protection activities, including

03:47 conservation, coastal restoration, and hurricane protection? That's right, the

03:54 administration's Interior Department is jeopardizing actual climate and

03:59 conservation goals for my state, and we aren't the only state sounding the alarm

04:05 on these terrible policies. These policies are driving up energy costs and

04:11 emboldening our enemies. President Biden and his allies continue to paint the

04:17 fossil fuel industry as the enemy, but both the Secretaries of Energy and

04:24 Interior have stated that fossil fuels will be around for a long time because

04:30 they are needed, yet they continue to try and diminish its production without the

04:35 necessary technology and grid capacity replacements. Not only could we see

04:41 higher energy costs under these policies, but we could see more blackouts during

04:46 extreme weather events, something that has Mississippians very concerned. The

04:53 American people deserve better than failing energy policies from a tone-deaf

04:58 administration and agencies that are doing everything they can to circumvent

05:03 Congress and force their radical energy agendas on this entire nation. Still, the

05:11 hard-working people in our energy industry are not letting President Biden

05:15 crush their spirits. My colleagues and I are battling back with everything we can

05:21 to challenge these rulings on behalf of the American people. With CRA resolutions

05:28 of disapproval, appropriations, committee hearings, we have the opportunities to

05:33 try to hold these agencies accountable for their continued overreach. I will

05:40 keep fighting alongside my colleagues until this ship is back on the correct

05:44 course of independent energy production for the betterment of the United States.

05:51 I yield the floor.

Cindy Hyde-Smith: Biden's Energy Policies Are 'Driving Us Straight Toward A Cliff'

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