GOP-Led House Passes Sweeping Energy Bill

In a vote of 225-204, the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives has passed a comprehensive bill, entitled the “Lower Energy Costs Act,” aimed at increasing domestic energy production and easing permitting restrictions. The bill seeks to make the United States less dependent on foreign countries for oil and natural gas by promoting transparency, accountability, permitting and production of American resources, increasing exports, infrastructure and critical minerals processing, improving water quality certification and energy projects, and reducing energy costs.

Making good on a campaign promise, the Republicans argue that the legislation will “unleash American energy production” and reduce “insane permitting red tape so families can see lower prices.” According to reports, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called the bill a “partisan, dead-on-arrival and unserious proposal” and “a wish list for Big Oil”, though he did voice support for “good faith” bipartisan talks “to figure out what sort of permitting deal is possible.”

Despite the opposition, fossil fuel groups and green energy groups have surprisingly come together to call for reforms to a “broken permitting system” that they say is hindering infrastructure development. Some renewable-energy trade groups, such as the American Clean Power Association (ACP), have lauded Scalise’s bill, contending that the provisions and reforms would help boost the clean energy cause in the United States, create jobs, and improve energy security. The ACP CEO Jason Grumet claims that “failure to enact critical permitting reforms and lift barriers that are hindering our ability to build much-needed transmission puts an estimated 150,000 clean energy jobs at risk.”

Should Scalise’s legislation pass the Senate, it faces the threat of a veto by President Joe Biden, who has taken executive action to pause new oil and natural gas leasing on public lands and offshore waters, set goals for a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035, and achieve net-zero emissions economy by 2050. The Lower Energy Costs Act has garnered criticism from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), stating that it would replace “pro-consumer policies with a thinly veiled license to pollute [the environment]” and “raise costs for American families by repealing household energy rebates and rolling back historic investments to increase access to cost-lowering clean energy technologies.”

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