During an Energy Committee hearing Wednesday on how to return the U.S. to President Donald Trump’s vision of “American Energy Dominance,” House Democrats argued that increasing wind and solar farms on the grid are key to achieving that vision. [emphasis, links added]
While arguing that renewable energy is the lowest-cost technology available, Democrats also criticized Trump for freezing taxpayer funding for the industry, which they say is going to prevent this low-cost industry from expanding.
The concerns Democrats raised in the hearing echo those coming in the wake of Trump’s executive orders he signed upon taking office, which declared a national energy emergency and revoked much of former President Joe Biden’s climate agenda.
Last month, Trump ordered a freeze on federal funding going toward “financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the Green New Deal.”
Read: Memorandum Funding Freeze
Democrats in the Senate introduced legislation this week to terminate Trump’s energy emergency, arguing that only oil companies will benefit from it, and a coalition of renewable energy groups and companies are initiating a lobbying blitz to protect the subsidies they say their low-cost industries need to survive.
Lean-Energy Economy
During Wednesday’s hearing, Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., said that nothing in the executive orders Trump signed upon taking office would lower energy costs or help “hard-working Americans.”
“Instead, across the board, the actions are a gift to big oil companies. They’re designed to boost their profits at the expense of working families across the country,” Castor said.
She said the country has an opportunity to build on the “successes” of the Biden-Harris administration’s energy policies that have been advancing “lower-cost, clean-energy grid resilience, innovation and efficiency.”
However, this lower-cost grid powered by renewables, she said, requires ongoing taxpayer support, including the trillions of dollars from Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act. …snip…
Democrat gaslighting
Rep. John James, R-Mich., disputed the claims that the Biden-Harris administration’s energy policy was lowering costs for Americans.
“Apparently, Democrat gaslighting produces zero emissions. But what does their radical agenda mean for constituents in my districts and your districts who pay more [at the] pump, who pay more for groceries, folks in Southeast Michigan have experienced their jobs being extinct [and] being shipped to other states, being shipped to other countries? Because Green New Deal, woke policies do not work in the real world,” James said.
The Republicans on the committee generally agreed with an “all of the above” approach to energy, but they argued that natural gas and nuclear would be needed to ensure grid reliability and affordability.
“Intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind have a role to play in a diverse energy mix. However, we must maintain our baseload power that is delivered from fossil fuels, nuclear, and hydropower,” said Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio. …snip…
Lobbying blitz
Democrats in Congress are gearing up to fight Trump’s “American energy dominance” executive orders, which they say will only benefit “big oil.”
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., drafted legislation that will terminate Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency.
“While Donald Trump focuses on repaying the corporate polluter executives who donated to his campaign, it is the American people who will pay the price of his sham ‘energy emergency.’ His autocratic and unlawful attacks on clean energy investments will kill American jobs, raise costs on families, weaken our economic competitiveness, and erode American global energy dominance,” Heinrich said in a statement.
Power the Future, an energy advocacy group, criticized Heinrich and Kaine for introducing the legislation when recent reports show inflation continues to be a problem.
“The truth is they are simple partisans who didn’t think it was an emergency when Americans were paying record gas prices and Joe Biden was begging Saudi Arabia for more oil. Make no mistake: These two Senators were key votes for the failed Inflation Reduction Act so when it comes to knowing which laws will help working families, these two should sit it out,” Daniel Turner, executive director of Power the Future, said in a statement.
On Thursday, a broad coalition of renewable energy groups and companies initiated a “lobbying blitz,” which includes a letter-writing campaign and 100 meetings with members of Congress and staff from both parties.
“Solar can be built faster and cheaper than almost any technology, and it’s clear that we can’t meet our nation’s energy challenges or President Trump’s energy vision without a robust American solar and storage industry,” Abigail Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), said in a statement announcing the blitz.
According to the statement, this cheap form of energy won’t be able to grow without federal energy tax credits. Absent taxpayer support, clean energy deployment would fall by 237 gigawatts over the next 15 years, according to Aurora Energy Research.
Read full post at Just The News
