EXCLUSIVE: Power the Future, a leading energy industry group, published a report which it said could act as an energy policy roadmap for House Republicans when they take majority control of the chamber next year.
The group, which represents the interests of energy industry workers nationwide, outlined 10 policy priorities for Republicans to pursue and areas where GOP leadership could conduct oversight and investigations into Biden administration policymaking. Power the Future argued a comprehensive energy agenda was vital to push back on President Biden's climate policies which have hampered fossil fuel development.
During the midterm elections this month, Republicans won back control of the House for the first time since early 2019. The victory gives GOP members leadership roles on key committees that green-light legislation and initiate oversight into federal agencies.
"Since the start of his presidency, Biden has indulged in apocalyptic concerns about climate change at the expense of American energy production, workers, and consumers," the report stated.
JOE BIDEN HAS HAMPERED DOMESTIC ENERGY INDUSTRY WHILE PLEADING FOR MORE FOREIGN OIL
President Biden has pursued an aggressive climate agenda that prioritizes clean energy development, but restricts fossil fuel production. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
"The results of Biden’s green assault on American energy have been disastrous," the report continued. "Since Biden took office, gasoline prices began a steady rise, reaching their highest levels ever recorded … earlier this year at $5.00 a gallon. Despite recent fortuitous declines, prices are still well over $1-a-gallon higher than they were at the beginning of the year, and 87 cents higher than this time last year."
Among the 10 priorities Power the Future outlines in the report, the group implores Republicans to repeal the so-called natural gas tax implemented in Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act that Biden signed in August. The natural gas tax included in the bill will force energy producers to pay $900 per ton of methane emitted in 2024, $1,200 per ton in 2025 and $1,500 per ton in 2026, raising a total of $6.5 billion in federal revenue.
The group also calls on Republicans to reverse Biden's oil and gas leasing moratorium, calling his record on the issue "simply atrocious." While a federal judge nixed the moratorium last year, the Biden administration has repeatedly delayed holding onshore lease sales.
BIDEN LOOKS EVERYWHERE TO LOWER GAS PRICES — EXCEPT BOOSTING OIL PRODUCTION
Domestic oil production under the Biden administration has remained level at around 12 million barrels per day, more than a million barrels less than its March 2020 pre-pandemic level, according to federal data.
"Congress should pass legislation ending Biden’s illegal leasing moratorium, and require that any future moratorium must first be passed by Congress and signed by the President," the report recommended.
"It should also require a minimum number and geographic breadth of quarterly oil and gas lease sales, allow 'Applications for Permits to Drill' (APDs) to take effect 30 days from the date an application is filed, and rescind federal regulatory authority over hydraulic fracturing, deferring to state regulatory regimes."
Power the Future also calls on Congress to approve the Keystone XL pipeline which Biden canceled, block the president's financial regulations designed to curb fossil fuel production and rescind a federal rule that allows California to set aggressive emissions standards. And the report states that Republicans should work to end "sue and settle" lawsuits that incentivize environmental groups to file legal challenges in an effort to slow energy development.
In its final four recommendations, the group said a Republican-majority House should ban the Biden administration's "social cost of carbon" policy that requires agencies to factor in carbon emissions when approving programs, allow automatic approvals of natural gas export terminals, pass a law that explicitly states the Clean Air Act does not include greenhouse gases and protect coal power plants from burdensome regulations.
"If Congress takes these bold, but practical steps, to stop Biden’s attack on American energy, it can restore hope for energy workers, consumers, and the economy," the report concluded. "There’s no question Biden will veto these measures—but at this point, that’s not really the point."
"Passing these ten policies will provide a clear contrast with Biden on energy between two competing visions: one rooted in allowing market participants to produce the cleanest, most reliable, and most affordable energy on the planet, versus another, Biden-backed vision that favors mandates, command-and-control regulations, and dictates from bureaucrats designed to stamp out fossil fuels and prioritize cronies in the green energy industry—all the while scoffing at regular people who have to suffer the consequences."
