During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about cuts to clean energy in the Republicans' budget reconciliation bill.
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00:00There's really nothing, nothing to celebrate about Republicans, quote, big, beautiful bill, unless you're a billionaire or an oil company.
00:10But for everyone else, this so-called big, beautiful bill is, in fact, nothing more than a big, fat grift.
00:19Taking money away from people, raising costs on average Americans, all to help the billionaires.
00:28And today I want to talk about how Republicans' big grift is an assault on America's clean energy,
00:36the bill that was just released by the Energy and Commerce Committee, or at least that part of it.
00:42Now, Donald Trump and Republicans claim to want America, to want American energy dominance.
00:49But from the moment he became president, they've been hell-bent on killing the clean energy investments
00:55America needs to meet the energy needs of tomorrow.
00:59They say they want more energy, and then they cut off the cheapest, quickest, most available form of energy
01:05for ideological and grift reasons.
01:10In a moment, I'll talk about the awful Republican bill that just came out of committee.
01:15But first, I want to talk about a specific project.
01:21Donald Trump's clean energy vendetta is wreaking particular havoc on New York's offshore wind industry.
01:36And it's a warning, a warning to the rest of America how he will deal with clean energy projects.
01:42What's happened here is utterly despicable, amazing, and awful.
01:48A few weeks ago, the Trump administration suddenly and without explanation issued a stop work order
01:55on New York's Empire Wind Farm, a $7 billion project already underway by the company Equinor.
02:03This is not some project in the planning stages.
02:06No, no, no.
02:06This was approved years ago.
02:10$3, $4 billion has been put into developing the offshore windmills that will provide energy
02:16for hundreds of thousands of homes, clean energy, cheap energy.
02:20And all of a sudden, out of the clear blue, the Secretary of Interior says,
02:29you must stop the project because the environmental statement, the environmental impact statement was rushed.
02:37The company asks why.
02:39And the Interior Secretary says, well, there's a report that NOAA has issued,
02:45that's in the Commerce Department, that says it, that says this was rushed and inadequate
02:53in terms of the environmental impact.
02:56So the company asked, I have asked repeatedly, for the Commerce Department to show us what the reasoning is,
03:08which we think there's none, to show us the specifics of why they halted this project out of the clear blue,
03:17a project employing hundreds and hundreds, thousands of people,
03:21a project where there are boats, I think, close to 50 of them, right offshore,
03:27actually building these offshore wind turbines.
03:34Now it's stopped.
03:35But there is no explanation.
03:37This is like a dictatorship.
03:39No due process, no explanation.
03:43Out of the blue, just as billions have already been spent
03:47and just as construction is underway off the coast,
03:52just as 30% of the project is built,
03:57Donald Trump and Howard Lutnick say halt.
04:02It's outrageous.
04:04Give us a reason, says the company.
04:06We've invested billions here in America.
04:09They're a Norwegian company, one of the largest offshore wind companies in the world.
04:13They're well-qualified, they're well-known, they have a good history.
04:19Give us a reason.
04:21Show us what's wrong with the approval previously, two, three years ago,
04:26of the environmental statement.
04:31And there's silence.
04:33No answer.
04:35No reason.
04:37And the project is now on hold.
04:40All the boats are out there.
04:41The workers are out there.
04:44No explanation has been given.
04:46Nor has Equinor been given any opportunity to discuss and address potential problems.
04:53This is not how businesses operate.
04:58Our friends on the other side like to talk about running government more like a business.
05:01Well, this is just outrageous.
05:04And every week that empire wind sits idle, it costs $50 million.
05:10So now the project may die altogether.
05:15Why?
05:16We know why.
05:18Donald Trump hates offshore wind.
05:21He hates offshore wind
05:23because supposedly years ago they built a wind farm off the coast of his Scotland golf course.
05:31He fought to kill it.
05:33He lost.
05:33So now he's taking it out on all offshore wind to the detriment of the American energy needs.
05:41In a way, that is like, it's like a dictatorship.
05:49Stop, they say.
05:51We're not giving you a reason.
05:52It's outrageous.
05:58It's malicious and intentional sabotage.
06:01It's an outright attack on New York jobs, on New York workers.
06:07And it's happening for no other reason than partisan ideology and political sociopathy.
06:15Partisan ideology because the right-wing oil and gas barons hate clean energy,
06:28even though it's the cheapest way to reduce our energy needs.
06:34And political sociopathy because Donald Trump hates offshore wind
06:38because he didn't like windmills off his golf course in Scotland.
06:44The Trump administration must at least give an explanation
06:51so the company can answer why they should continue with the project.
06:57I call on Secretary Lutnik to immediately release
07:00the National Oceanianic and Atmospheric Administration report
07:06that was used as justification to halt work on the Empire Wind project.
07:12New Yorkers, Americans, the company which invests heavily in America
07:16deserve to know why halt this project.
07:19What's the deal?
07:20What's the justification and what's the plan to get the jobs back on track?
07:25These are good jobs, good-paying jobs.
07:29If everything's on the level,
07:32the administration should not fear being transparent with Equinor.
07:37What's the answer?
07:38How can they shut the project down and give no explanation?
07:42We've called the Secretary of Interior.
07:45He says it's up to Lutnik and NOAA,
07:47the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
07:51They're the ones who say that this was approved too quickly,
07:59even though it's been working with no problems for years.
08:03The work is ongoing and the construction is ongoing.
08:07And by the way, to everyone investing in America,
08:14whether you're an American company or not,
08:16this should be a shot across the bow,
08:18a warning of what this administration can do.
08:21out of the clear blue, just say stop.
08:25No explanation, no reason, no ands, ifs, or buts.
08:30Our business community should be outraged about how this business is being treated.
08:34Not just the energy business, they can do this anywhere.
08:42We need answers, and at the very minimum,
08:46the explanation is why they ordered this project stopped,
08:49which I imagine is very flimsy,
08:51and came from Donald Trump's sociopathy,
08:55because he hates offshore wind,
08:57because of what they did,
08:58he didn't like those windmills,
08:59off the golf course in Scotland.
09:01It's well known, that's why he hates offshore wind.
09:05So what happened with Equinor is just a disgusting travesty
09:10that must be reversed.
09:14It is so, so outrageously unfair,
09:21malicious, and counterproductive for America's energy needs.
09:25Now, let me talk to the broader issue,
09:32the Republican bill that just came out of committee on the House side.
09:37What's happening with Equinor is frankly part of a larger pattern
09:40of clean energy destruction,
09:43clean energy destruction from Donald Trump and Republicans.
09:48Before our very eyes,
09:50Republicans want to kill American clean energy in its tracks.
09:55They want to use their so-called One Big Beautiful Bill
09:58to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act.
10:02Most of all,
10:04they want to cut taxes for the ultra-rich and big corporations
10:07and make Americans pay for it
10:09with higher energy costs
10:11by rendering unusable
10:15the wind and solar tax breaks
10:22that were put into the legislation in the IRA.
10:27And what do American people need to know?
10:29Republicans are raising taxes on Americans' electricity.
10:34One independent study,
10:36it's raising costs on Americans' electricity as well.
10:40One independent study
10:42shows families and businesses
10:45will see their electricity bills go up by 10% as soon as next year.
10:49Hear that, America?
10:50This ideological craziness
10:52that we shouldn't have wind and solar.
10:56Some people don't think, you know,
10:57there are some, I guess,
10:58who feel we shouldn't have coal, oil, and natural gas.
11:04But actually,
11:05if we're going to meet America's energy needs,
11:08we need clean energy.
11:09It's the only way to go,
11:11even if you're for natural gas
11:16and oil
11:17to be used,
11:20even though those are far less now efficient
11:22and productive
11:23than solar and wind energy.
11:25But to do this,
11:28to meet the ideological thirst
11:31to shut this process down,
11:35to shut clean energy down,
11:37they're going to raise your electric bills,
11:39Mr. and Mrs. America,
11:41all Americans,
11:43as much as 10% by next year.
11:46States like Kansas,
11:50Missouri,
11:50and South Carolina
11:51could see prices rise by 15%.
11:54Wyoming,
11:55I saw my friend
11:56from Wyoming in the back there,
12:00could see nearly a 30% increase
12:02in energy costs,
12:04hundreds of dollars a year extra
12:06for families and businesses,
12:08for a family or small business
12:10already dealing with inflation in a trade war.
12:12An extra 10% in costs
12:14could mean the difference
12:16between staying open
12:17and shutting down.
12:19If Republicans repeal the IRA,
12:21a generation
12:22of American manufacturing jobs
12:24will also be an immediate risk,
12:26most of them in red states,
12:28although they'll be in red states
12:29and blue states alike.
12:30The IRA has already spurred
12:33more than $270 billion
12:35in clean energy investment.
12:38And that's in addition
12:39to the $100 billion
12:40in domestic manufacturing
12:42to build these projects
12:43right here at home.
12:44All of this will be shut down
12:46if the House Republican bill
12:49passes the House
12:50and passes the Senate
12:51and is signed into law.
12:55Here's something
12:56for my Republican colleagues
12:57to think about.
12:58Nine of the 10
13:00top congressional districts
13:02receiving manufacturing investment
13:04from the IRA
13:05are Republican districts.
13:07Those investments
13:08are over $5 billion each.
13:11For a party
13:12that claims to be pro-business,
13:14what they're doing with Equinor
13:16is so anti-business
13:17and so disruptive
13:18of business decision-making.
13:21And what they're doing here
13:22is just the same.
13:26Just the same.
13:27The restrictions
13:30they put in the bill
13:31are such
13:31that if a project,
13:33as I understand it,
13:34if a project is not completed
13:35by 2028,
13:36it loses all its credits.
13:39Which means
13:40project after project
13:42after project,
13:44clean energy projects
13:45for wind and solar
13:46and others
13:47will be shut down.
13:49So I have a message
13:50to the House Republicans
13:51in the Ways and Means Committee
13:52who just passed the bill
13:53on a strict party line vote.
13:55To approve these cuts
13:58is to approve
13:58a death sentence
13:59for energy
14:01and manufacturing jobs
14:02for your communities.
14:04These investments
14:05include a $700 million
14:06battery manufacturing plant
14:08in Fort Worth, Texas,
14:10the more than $5 billion
14:11in battery manufacturing
14:13at new and existing facilities
14:15in Fayette County, Ohio,
14:17or multiple solar manufacturing facilities
14:20in the Phoenix metro area
14:21of Arizona.
14:22And mark my words,
14:25if Republicans gut the IRA,
14:27it would be a gift
14:27to the Chinese Communist Party.
14:31Jobs that should belong in America
14:33will go to cities
14:34like Chengdu, China.
14:36Because China's not cutting back
14:37on clean energy.
14:39No way.
14:40They're going to get way ahead of us
14:42on this industry
14:44like they did on electric cars.
14:45And Americans will pay the price
14:47in higher energy costs,
14:50in fewer jobs,
14:56and in losing the leadership
14:58on another industry to China.
15:01But this one didn't have to happen.
15:03The RA did a great job
15:04at getting America moving
15:05and ahead of China.
15:07And now they're taking it away.
15:08So putting it all together,
15:12the Republican bill,
15:13what does it mean
15:13for the middle class?
15:14Higher electricity bills,
15:16hundreds of thousands
15:17of good-paying jobs
15:18erased around the country,
15:20rising insurance premiums,
15:22particularly on states
15:24by the water,
15:26Florida, Texas, Mississippi,
15:29South Carolina,
15:30their insurance premiums
15:31are going up now
15:32because we don't have
15:36enough clean energy
15:36and there's too much
15:37climate change
15:39with tornadoes
15:40and hurricanes
15:41and floods
15:41and, Lord, what else?
15:43And so insurers,
15:44they don't want to insure anymore.
15:47They want to insure
15:48at such high prices
15:49that people can't sell
15:50their homes
15:50in those states
15:53and across the country.
15:54And people,
15:55young people,
15:55who want to buy a home
15:56can't because the insurance
15:57is too high.
15:59And it's too high
16:00because we don't have
16:02enough clean energy
16:03and they're cutting it off.
16:06So these are all
16:07terrible prices to pay
16:09just to lower taxes
16:10for the ultra-rich,
16:12just to satisfy
16:13the ideological thirst
16:15of oil and gas
16:17and coal barons
16:18who hate clean energy
16:19because they know
16:20it's the future
16:20and they know
16:21they are not the future.