Don’t miss this op-ed and report from Chair Rodgers and Ranking Member Barrasso

Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-WY) wrote an op-ed in Newsweek exposing how the Biden administration’s radical climate agenda has led to massive government spending, increased reliance on China, and undermined American energy security and leadership.

The op-ed includes findings from a new joint report by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The report, titled “Irresponsible, Reckless, Alarming: IRA Will Make the United States Poorer and China Richer,” highlights how the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is one of the most economically disastrous pieces of legislation ever enacted. 

As mentioned in the op-ed, the Committee Leaders also sent a joint letter today to Director of the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office Jigar Shah following evidence of an apparent conflict of interest. An organization the Director founded apparently was offering exclusive access to his office for groups seeking loan approval.

Check out highlights from the op-ed, report, and letter below.

Key excerpts from the op-ed:

“Since Joe Biden was inaugurated, he has undermined our sound energy policy and our national security. Emboldened adversaries are a predictable consequence of American weakness, and President Biden's anti-American energy policy has contributed to this weakness.”

"But it's about to get worse. Last year, Democrats rammed through their so-called 'Inflation Reduction Act' (IRA), the stated goal of which is to supercharge the energy 'transition' at the core of President Biden's radical climate agenda. This energy transition from affordable, available, and reliable American energy is the wrong policy at the wrong time."

[...]

“As with the 2009 Obama-Biden stimulus, influential lobbyists and donors are already lining up to market their access to the administration's check writers. Yesterday, we sent a series of questions to Jigar Shah, Director of the Department of Energy Loan Programs Office. A public report indicated that the firm Shah founded—Cleantech Leaders Roundtable—is acting as a 'gatekeeper' and offering preferential access to Shah. One senior Cleantech official leads a company that has already been approved for a $3 billion partial loan guarantee.”

[...]

"It's not just financial awards that are concerning. Shocking as it may seem, the energy 'transition' in the IRA will reposition the United States away from the fuels and technologies we dominate and toward those China controls."

[...]

“China also controls the supply chains for many of the key minerals EV technologies require. Yet the administration has worked aggressively to block mining of these same minerals here at home. Even with more domestic mining, converting the U.S. auto fleet to EVs would mean importing massive amounts of critical minerals from China-backed companies.”

[...]

“We cannot surrender our energy security to our adversaries. Yet that is exactly what the Democrats' reckless policies will do.”

CLICK HERE to read the full opinion piece in Newsweek. 

Key excerpts from the report:

Enriching China: 

• The IRA is the linchpin in the Biden administration’s strategy to force the United States to abandon the industries and supply chains American dominates and replace them with the industries and supply chains China controls.
• China also directly or indirectly controls the supply chains for many of the key minerals these technologies require. Yet the administration has blocked or proposed blocking future mining for these same minerals throughout the United States. Even with additional mining, large amounts of critical materials will have to be imported to convert the U.S. auto fleet to EVs.
• The contrast with America’s recent dominance of global oil, natural gas, and coal production could not be starker. It would be foolish to give up such an economic and geopolitical advantage, but that’s what IRA is designed to do.

Jeopardizing America’s Leadership in Emissions Reductions: 

• IRA will not improve the environment and may even harm it.
• The U.S. produces some of the cleanest energy in the world. We have led in emissions reductions by embracing American ingenuity and innovation— particularly in cleaner energy sources like natural gas—all while maintaining some of the highest labor and environmental standards. The development of American natural gas helped reduce U.S. emissions in the power sector by 36 percent from 2005 and 2022. As a result, America’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, both total and power sector, are at their lowest level since the mid-1980s.
• The IRA’s natural gas tax threatens to reverse these trends while making life more unaffordable for people, who are still paying more to heat homes, cook, and manufacture thousands of essential products than when President Biden first came into office. This is a tax on every part of our economy, which harms communities and shuts down production.

American Energy Dominance is Still Achievable:

• Republicans’ previous "all-of-the-above" energy strategy has been a success. This nation needs a comparable "all of the above" car policy that encourages investment and innovation in a variety of new and improved technologies.
• Thanks to America’s shale revolution, America became energy independent in 2019 for the first time since Dwight Eisenhower was president.
• A robust oil and gas industry more than pays for itself in greater economic growth, jobs, and revenues and lower energy costs for families.

CLICK HERE to read the report. 

Key excerpt from the letter:

• We write concerning a recent report about the close relationship between the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, which you lead, and Cleantech Leaders Roundtable, a trade association you founded. The role that Cleantech Leaders Roundtable has assumed, appearing to act as a gatekeeper for companies seeking vital financial assistance from the LPO, warrants a thorough examination.

CLICK HERE to read the letter.