March 22nd, 2024

• Stay up to date on all things energy by visiting the TEA Newsroom.
• Natural Gas CARES: It is the world’s Cleanest, Affordable, Reliable Energy Source.
• Natural Gas Utility Workers Day observed. They keep the lights on!
• Opinion: Why did Biden forget to mention booming U.S. oil in SOTU?
• Biden’s new energy-saving standards for washing machines, dryers are ‘harmful,’ expert warns.
• Oil, gas executives expect a slower transition to net zero.
• Opinion: Biden wants 50,000 new climate activists and the consequences will be devastating.
• DC Circuit case pits pipeline expansion against NJ’s climate ambitions.

The issue: GOP leaders are confronting President Biden’s new climate czar on key security risks lurking in the green agenda. At the same time, the nation’s premier energy conference is taking place in Houston with Energy Secretary Granholm and senior climate adviser John Podesta set to appear. They have a lot of explaining to do.

Why it matters: Republicans need to keep pushing back on this aggressive agenda in this, Biden’s final year in office. Kudos to Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), for spearheading this effort. Sen. Sullivan makes several key points, which align nicely with TEA’s Common Sense Energy Agenda.

Consider: 

• The demand for LNG, obviously, is not going away anytime soon.
• American LNG is one of the cleanest forms of energy available anywhere.
• Leveraging America’s energy independence is one of our greatest strengths against authoritarian regimes.

“At a time when war is ongoing in Ukraine and tensions are rising in the Middle East and Asia, it is particularly important that allied nations can rely on the United States for a reliable, long-term fuel supply,” lawmakers wrote to Podesta. This seems lost on the Biden administration, including Podesta and Secretary Granholm.

Meanwhile, Granholm spoke Monday at the CERAWeek energy conference, addressing the gathering of energy leaders and officials in Houston, roughly two months after the Biden administration ruffled industry feathers by pausing permitting for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects. She made a feeble attempt to justify the move and predicted that by next year “this will be well in the rearview mirror.”

The reality is that almost 800 million people globally have no electricity, and about 2.6 billion — a third of the world’s population — have no access to clean cooking fuels. Hess Corporation CEO John Hess spoke on the importance of affordable natural gas in eradicating energy poverty.

Bottom Line: Kudos to the common sense representatives pushing back on the wasteful “green” spending championed by the Biden administration. America needs to lead the way on providing reliable energy to the rest of the world.

The issue: The Biden administration this week finalized the highly anticipated regulations targeting gas-powered vehicle tailpipe emissions, considered the tip of the spear in its efforts to electrify the transportation sector.

Why it matters: The regulations, a key part of President Biden’s climate agenda, would ultimately force automakers to more rapidly expand electric options in their fleets (50% of all new car sales by 2030) beginning in a matter of years. This comes despite warnings from automakers and the energy industry who know that Average Joes do not want or can not afford these vehicles.
Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio) is one of many elected officials who points out the green hypocrisy.

Consider: 

• Our grid could not currently support increased demand if all vehicles were electric
• EVs are impractical and unaffordable for many families in rural areas
• It increases China’s leverage on our energy security because they control battery supply chain

The U.S. already is a leader in clean air, largely because of the increased use of natural gas.

This scheme will only push the costs of electric vehicles on to purchasers of internal combustion engine vehicles. If EVs were as popular as the green-at-any-cost mob would have us believe, the unelected Biden bureaucrats wouldn’t need to force us to buy them.

It’s being done primarily to appease the powerful leftwing donor base of the Democratic Party and those extremist climate groups backing Biden for re-election.

Under this aggressive proposal, which the EPA unveiled in April 2023 and will go into effect in 2027, the White House projected that 67% of new sedan, crossover, SUV and light truck purchases would be electric by 2032. That’s the government dictating the market — picking winners and losers — and it lies in stark contrast to our free enterprise system.

Bottom Line: EVs – Automakers don’t want to build them and Americans don’t want to drive them, yet none of that matters to Biden who is standing by his out-of-touch EV mandates.

Spring is officially here! Warmer temperatures is a good thing for home heating costs, but the same is not true for prices at the pump. Since last week, the national average for a gallon of gasoline has increased 10 cents more, now up to $3.53. This marks the highest average price for gas at this point in the year since March 2022. The changing seasons isn’t the only thing pushing prices higher, high oil prices are also placing upward pressure on the gas price trend.

Nothing on the calendar for next week as Congress is in recess!

“The Biden Admin is so beholden to the climate mob that they’re implementing insane mandates to force people to buy unreliable, expensive EVs no one wants while essentially banning gas cars.”

-Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) on the Biden administration’s finalized EV mandates.