The Lower Energy Costs Act

President Biden’s war on American energy is making life unaffordable, including for David Hickman, a fifth-generation farm owner and operation from Horntown, Virginia. 

He told the Energy and Commerce Committee in January, “this is the most perilous time... for American agriculture.”   

WATCH David explain further why we need to unleash American energy to lower prices: 

“We had never seen prices increases like we had in 2022. Everyone has to realize that agriculture runs on energy, whether it be petroleum, diesel fuel, or natural gas. A lot of people don’t realize that natural gas is in so many other products than just fuel. 

“This potato bag, for example, is a five-pound bag that goes to all our supermarket customers. It was 12 cents in 2021. 16 cents in 2022. That 4 cents might not sound like a whole lot but when you buy half a million that is $20,000 just in the packaging. 

“Food prices are directly related to high energy costs. This country needs a stable, affordable supply of energy because so much of agriculture is dependent upon energy. As long as energy is high priced and in short supply, it will translate in higher food prices and shortages in the supermarket.” 

David is right. Energy is foundational to everything.  

For the farmers who grow our food, manufacturers who make products we need, to truck drivers who make deliveries, grocers who struggle to keep their shelves stocked, and for Americans who are stretching their budgets to feed their families—energy touches every part of our economy and way of life.

That’s why Energy and Commerce Republicans are leading on energy solutions to increase production, boost refining capacity, build more pipelines, and repeal the Democrats’ natural gas tax.

Americans are currently struggling to afford some of the highest energy prices in decades. President Biden’s rush-to-green policies have led to skyrocketing prices across the board—from electricity and oil to natural gas. This is not a path we can afford to continue down. 

FAST FACTS on Rising Household Prices 

• More than one-third of U.S. households say they reduced or skipped basic expenses, such as medicine or food, to pay an energy bill in 2022. 
• The cost for an average household has risen approximately $10,000 in the two years since President Biden took office. 

At a roundtable in January, Donna Jackson, the Director of Membership Development at Project 21, described how President Biden’s agenda is hurting low- and middle-income Americans the most. 

Here’s what she said: 

“In so many ways, plentiful and affordable domestic energy is part of the ticket out of poverty and dependence. For example, we see the entrepreneurial spirit of the Black community in many Black- owned small businesses, but those business struggle and sometimes fail under the weight of expensive energy." 

[…] 

“Every extra penny struggling households have to spend on expensive energy is a penny we can’t save for home ownership or our children’s education or other things that can help lift up the next generation.” 

WATCH Donna Jackson’s full testimony. 

CLICK HERE to read Donna Jackson’s Op Ed on how high costs are hurting Americans. 

At an Energy and Commerce field hearing in Midland, Texas, in February we heard from the Mayor of Midland, Lori Blong, who discussed the benefits that her community has experienced as a result of the local energy industry. 

Here’s what she said: 

“The messages, virtue signaling and rhetoric that have come from the federal level lately tell us oil and gas is evil or not on the side of average American or on the side of care for our environment. This could not be further from the truth." 

[…] 

“These companies work continuously with local and regional leaders to explore and find solutions to challenges in education, healthcare, housing, road safety, and training the future workforce. Using education as an example, PSP member companies have invested over $47 million in education initiatives across the Permian Basin, supporting local public schools, universities, teachers, and students.” 

CLICK HERE to read her full testimony. 

Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans, led by Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), spoke on the House Floor today in support of H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act.

Don’t miss Energy and Commerce Republicans share how H.R. 1 will make life affordable again in America.