During debate on the House floor, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) introduced an amendment to HR 8997, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of my amendment, amendment number 18 to
00:05H.R. 8997, which prohibits funds for the Department of Energy's implementation of
00:11its proposed industrial decarbonization roadmap. The industrial decarbonization
00:16roadmap radically reforms four different categories of CO2 emitters
00:21in the residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors.
00:25We've seen this administration target residential carbon emissions by going
00:30after everything that works in your home, from gas stoves to washers and dryers to
00:34water heaters. Additionally, we've seen this administration go after the
00:38transportation sector through tailpipe emission requirements, fuel efficiency
00:42standards, and propping up the electric vehicle industry. The industrial
00:46decarbonization roadmap specifically targets a few key industries
00:51that significantly contribute to the stability of our nation's economy and
00:55supply chain, namely the petroleum refining, chemicals, iron and steel, cement,
01:01and food and beverage industries. This so-called roadmap actually
01:06recommends the use of less efficient energy sources, including so-called
01:11clean energy, to ultimately replace the use of affordable and reliable energy
01:16resources. This roadmap is anti-energy independence and in favor of forced
01:22transition away from fossil fuels. According to the Department of Energy,
01:26this initiative is, quote, critical to equity goals, specifically the
01:32administration's Justice 40 initiative. However, there is nothing just about
01:37forcing millions of Americans into energy poverty. For those of my
01:42colleagues who may support this roadmap, remember that it is your fellow
01:46Americans who pay for it. One of the goals mentioned in the roadmap is, quote,
01:51to prepare the existing 11.4 million American manufacturing workers in future
01:56workforce for the clean energy transition, end quote. Mr. Chairman, I can
02:01tell you that this administration is not concerned about our workers. I recently
02:05met with coal miners in Wyoming whose livelihoods have been threatened by a
02:09recent BLM action. I asked OSMRE and the BLM in a recent hearing what their
02:15plans were to mitigate for the tens of thousands of job losses that will result
02:20from this regulation, and they couldn't answer. As the sole representative of a
02:25state whose legacy industries have been undermined by the federal government in
02:29the name of this so-called transition, I voiced my strong opposition to this
02:33roadmap. I urge passage of my amendment, and with that, I reserve.
02:40For what reason does the gentlewoman from Ohio seek recognition? Yes, Mr.
02:46Chair, I claim time in opposition. Gentlewoman is recognized. First, let me
02:53say that I rise in strong opposition to this amendment, but I understand the
02:57gentlelady's desire to protect the jobs of people in the state that she is sworn
03:05to represent. I respect that very much. Southern Ohio has had a lot of
03:10transition in the energy industry, and we understand what it means when you lose
03:17jobs. We have a fossil fuel energy research lab in the state of
03:23Pennsylvania that actually is looking at products like coal and seeing if, in fact,
03:29there aren't rare earths in there that are worth more per ton than traditional
03:33mining. I just mentioned that, but I sadly have to rise in opposition to her
03:39amendment because it would essentially prohibit funds to implement the
03:43industrial decarbonization roadmap published by the Department of Energy in
03:47fiscal year 2022, and the purpose of the roadmap is to develop a strategic
03:52approach to decarbonizing the nation's industrial sector. I come from a major
03:57industrial area. I can't tell you how many funerals I have been to, including
04:02my own brothers, of people who worked in industry. His situation was as a
04:08mechanic on heavy-duty equipment, garbage trucks, fire trucks, police cars, working
04:17in garages where the people ingested the fumes. George Tucker, who was the head of
04:21our Local 7 unit in that garage, had a double cancer. He suffered for almost two
04:27decades. Believe me, these are horrendous illnesses that come from working in
04:34unsafe conditions, and so the purpose of the roadmap is to develop a strategic
04:39approach to decarbonizing the nation's industrial sector, which we need, while
04:45simultaneously creating good-paying jobs for American workers, spurring economic
04:49growth, developing U.S. leadership in new technologies, and creating a cleaner, more
04:55equitable future for all Americans. It is really tragic, the conditions that a
05:01number of our mechanics, whether they're working for repairing airplanes or
05:06whether they are working in extractive industries, the conditions that they work
05:11under. And one of the interesting things to look at is in the different states
05:15that we live in. If you look at the occupational safety and health bills that
05:19come in the form of health care, the money that it costs to take care of sick
05:24people who have had to work in these industries, that's not our job in this
05:27account, but I can guarantee you we hemorrhage money because of the illnesses
05:31of people across this country. This roadmap focused on proven steps for
05:37energy technology innovation, advancing early-stage research and development,
05:42investing in multiple industrial process strategies, scaling through
05:47demonstrations, and integrating solutions from that. Particularly with what is
05:53happening to air quality because of the climate crisis, our efforts are even more
05:57needed to make the industrial sector more efficient, to position it to be a
06:04global leader in innovation as well as clean air and clean circumstances that
06:09people work in, and to be competitive in the future global clean energy economy. We
06:15really are transitioning to a different world. It will be a healthier one. And I
06:20really don't want to go back to the 20th century and what these individuals
06:23and their families have had to live through. It's really ugly. And while it is
06:28clear that we need an all-of-the-above energy strategy that taps domestic oil
06:31and gas and invests in clean energy, we must also continue to promote energy
06:36innovation in all sectors of our economy. It's just intelligent. It's just the wise
06:42thing to do for the country. And the transition will be difficult. And we know
06:47that because people lose jobs and technologies go out of date. But some
06:50that come on are just ingenious. And America is a country of invention. And I
06:56believe that we will work our way forward in this new
07:00challenge to decarbonize our nation's industrial sector, create good-paying
07:04jobs, spur economic growth, create a cleaner future for all of Americans, and
07:10lead the world in these new technologies. So I strongly urge my colleagues to vote
07:14against this amendment and I yield back. The gentlelady yields. The gentlelady
07:19from Wyoming is recognized. The Biden-Harris administration hasn't been
07:23shy about its distaste for American workers who provide affordable and
07:27reliable energy to the rest of the country. This administration cares more
07:32about filling the pockets of OPEC, Venezuela, and Iran than it does about
07:37energy independence, energy affordability, and energy reliability. The main
07:41component of the roadmap is a transition to what they refer to as no-carbon fuels.
07:46Not only is such a goal ludicrous and infeasible, but Americans see through
07:51these claims. The reality that this so-called no-carbon fuels receive four
07:56times more in subsidies and yet produce only one-fifth of the energy.
08:01They are simply unreliable and unaffordable, even with the ridiculous
08:05amount of taxpayer money being thrown at them. This so-called clean energy is
08:10completely propped up by the federal government. Figures from the U.S. Energy
08:13Information Administration show that renewables receive at least 15.6
08:18billion dollars in subsidies during the fiscal year 2022. Ironically, the second
08:24largest recipients of subsidies, according to the Energy Administration
08:28information, are low-income families who are struggling to pay their utility
08:34bills under this administration. And why are they struggling? They are struggling
08:38because of rising energy prices and rising utility rates that come as the
08:42result of forcing this so-called transition. Forced energy poverty by an
08:47out-of-touch Biden-Harris administration. We cannot afford to pursue these failed
08:52energy policies imposed upon us by this radical administration. I ask my
08:57colleagues to join me in defunding the Department of Energy's implementation of
09:01its proposed industrial decarbonization roadmap. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I
09:06yield back.