Republican HEAT members call for U.S. energy independence

Fifteen House Energy Action Team (HEAT) members on Tuesday blasted the Biden administration and congressional Democrats for not advancing America’s energy independence.

“The United States is the greatest country in the world, and we have the ability to once again achieve energy independence, provide affordable and reliable energy for our citizens, and support our allies,” said HEAT member U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) on the House floor. “We just need our leaders to have these priorities as well.”

HEAT Chairman and House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) joined Rep. Newhouse and fellow HEAT members, including U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA), Andy Barr (R-KY), and Troy Balderson (R-OH), in a Sept. 28 Special Order on the House floor to condemn recent energy policies from the administration, such as canceling the Keystone XL pipeline, requesting that OPEC and Russia produce more oil, using the financial system to target oil and gas producers, and placing a moratorium on drilling in the United States. 

“The Biden administration’s policies are damaging to American energy independence and security,” Rep. Balderson said. “Destroying American energy production under the false pretense that doing so is somehow saving the environment is nothing more than a mismatching of problems and solutions. 

“Simply put, it is a disastrous display of virtue-signaling,” said the congressman. “We must reverse course and return to a path of American energy leadership.”

Such policies, in fact, simply show that the Biden administration is trying to pacify environmental activists by using government regulation as a weapon targeted against energy producers, according to Rep. Barr.

“The HEAT team and my Republican colleagues on the Financial Services Committee will continue to fight against this misuse of government power while protecting reliable, affordable energy sources for every Kentuckian and American in our nation amid a historic rise in gas prices and household energy costs,” Rep. Barr said.

Rep. Scalise said he and his colleagues will “continue to stand up for American energy” and will work to encourage American manufacturing and production. “Because if you make it in China, or India, or some other country, they emit five times more carbon,” he said, adding that the president should “stop giving gifts to foreign countries like China.”

Rep. Carter agreed, noting that “Democrat proposals will only lead to higher energy prices, reduce the reliability of electricity for many communities, and take away good-paying jobs.”