WASHINGTON, DC – The House of Representatives today passed the committee’s comprehensive energy bill, H.R. 8, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act, which included 15 Democratic amendments and passed by a bipartisan vote of 249 to 174. The bill, sponsored by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), culminates a multi-year, multi-Congress effort to modernize our outdated energy laws for the 21st century – a vision Chairman Upton refers to as the Architecture of Abundance. The passage of H.R. 8 builds upon the committee’s bipartisan #RecordOfSuccess.

“How can it be in the 21st century with incredible energy abundance that we can’t get energy to consumers in some parts of the country? This bill is the fix we need to ensure folks in Michigan and every corner of the country have access to affordable and reliable energy,” said Upton.

Many energy policies are rooted in the 1970s scarcity mindset. This bill seeks to update those laws to maximize America’s energy potential. The United States is now the world’s largest producer of petroleum and natural gas but America’s energy infrastructure has failed to keep pace with our energy renaissance. Falling behind has hurt businesses and consumers and is holding America back from becoming the world’s leading energy superpower. H.R. 8 is focused in four areas – modernizing energy infrastructure, protecting the electricity system, strengthening energy security, and improving energy efficiency and government accountability. Additionally, H.R. 8 contains provisions to lift the ban on crude oil exports, expedite the approval process for liquefied natural gas exports, and speed up the permitting process for cross-border energy infrastructure projects.

Chairman Upton concluded, “A decade ago no one could have imagined where we would be in 2015 and how much the energy script would be flipped in our favor. This bill promotes access to affordable and reliable energy, diversity, efficiency and modernization of our energy infrastructure, and most importantly it modernizes our electricity grid. Today the House put the scarcity mindset in the rear view mirror and said yes to energy and yes to jobs.”

For a fact sheet, click here.

To view letters of support, click here.

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