House Natural Resources Committee Democrats hold a press briefing to slam the GOP reconciliation budget bill.
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00:03:15Okay, now heads up
00:03:30All right, don't get up everybody just stay seated
00:03:43Come on
00:03:53All right, good afternoon everyone. Are we ready to roll?
00:03:57Who's telling me it's time to start?
00:04:04Action
00:04:05Take one take one
00:04:08Folks good afternoon
00:04:10We're here because we want to be clear about what is happening with this big billionaire boondoggle bill
00:04:18Is also the single most extreme
00:04:22Anti-environment piece of legislation that Congress has ever seen it is reckless. It is corrupt
00:04:28We call the natural resources title the environmental liquidation for billionaires act
00:04:34It guts bedrock protections for clean air clean water public lands
00:04:39gives big oil a
00:04:41virtual blank check to drill and frack and pollute
00:04:45Anywhere they want including some of the most treasured and ecologically sensitive places in the country
00:04:51So as Interior Secretary Burgum is perhaps enjoying some of his famous fresh-baked cookies down the street
00:04:59we know that
00:05:01Our public lands are being liquidated by this Republican majority
00:05:05They're ramming through mandatory drilling in the Arctic Refuge toxic mining and the boundary waters watershed
00:05:12Auctioning off of more than four million acres of public lands more land area than the state of Connecticut
00:05:19To mine coal
00:05:21Coal that nobody wants or needs
00:05:24Instead of winning the clean energy future. They are trying to make black long and acid rain great again
00:05:32The revisions in this bill read like a big oil wish list
00:05:36sweetheart lease deals in the Gulf of
00:05:39Trump or whatever they're calling it these days in Alaska
00:05:43slashed royalty rates
00:05:45Immunity from judicial review sky-high protest fees designed to silence impacted communities
00:05:51Their new golden grift pay-to-play
00:05:55Permitting plan actually lets the richest polluters
00:05:59Buy their way out of any legal challenges
00:06:03Meanwhile clean energy investments get crushed. That's not just backward. It's anti-competitive
00:06:09It will show up in Americans monthly electricity bills
00:06:13And here's the kicker the same Republicans who claim to be fiscally responsible
00:06:18same ones who wring their hands about deficits when it's time to
00:06:22Take away food assistance or undermine climate resilience
00:06:26They're about to add three point eight trillion dollars to the national debt according to the CBO
00:06:32So they can bankroll their billionaire tax cuts and their fossil fuel industry handouts
00:06:38The same folks who say they want to put conservative back in conservation are destroying national parks public lands
00:06:46sacred tribal sites all just to please the oil lobby their hypocrisy is
00:06:52Staggering and the American people see right through it and they feel betrayed remember those promises about lower costs
00:07:00Remember Donald Trump saying what he would provide the cleanest air the cleanest water
00:07:05Well, they're using
00:07:07Revelation to jam all of this stuff through for a reason
00:07:11They know the American people hate it and would never support any of it
00:07:16They're sneaking this through in the dark of night because it's the only chance they have of passing some of this stuff
00:07:23But the American people aren't gonna see and they're gonna notice when their energy bills start to go up
00:07:29They're gonna notice when their towns flood or burn when their kids get sick more often because their community was sold out
00:07:37to polluting industries
00:07:39They're gonna notice when public health protections vanish when Medicaid and food assistance go away
00:07:46The house still has a chance to stop this monstrosity
00:07:51And if Republicans insist on jamming it through the Senate has to step up and stop it because this is not just bad
00:07:58Politics it's about whether government works for the people or just for polluters profiteers and Trump's billionaire
00:08:06oligarch pals with that
00:08:08I am so pleased to stand with these colleagues behind me who are champions in their own right for clean energy for
00:08:16our environment for our public lands for winning the future and I'm going to hand off at this point to
00:08:23representative Don Beyer of Virginia
00:08:27Thank you, thank you Jared very much and thank you for your
00:08:31Long-term environmental leadership as the ranking Democrat and natural resources soon. I hope to be the chair
00:08:37and Shella
00:08:39And I want to just take a minute to recognize the environmental legacy of my colleague Jerry Connolly
00:08:46Who to my knowledge is the very first?
00:08:48Virginian in Congress to push for banning offshore oil and gas drilling off the coast of Virginia
00:08:54I know also the the longest most beautiful trail in Northern Virginia of 40 miles is named after Jerry
00:09:02Because as chairman of the County Board, he created dozens of new parks
00:09:07And I know he would have been with us today to talk about how disastrous this bill is both for energy and for economic future
00:09:13If you care about climate change this bill threatens the very progress the US has made to bring down emissions it can
00:09:21increase emissions by up to seven hundred thirty million metric tons by 2035 and basically put us out of reach with any
00:09:29Chance of complying with our environmental agenda or climate change agenda if you care about energy dominance, too
00:09:36Which is what Trump says he wants. This bill is totally unserious
00:09:40Thanks to the IRA since
00:09:422022 we've seen energy prices created that created
00:09:46400,000 new jobs and more than four hundred billion dollars of announced new investments and by the end of 2024
00:09:53The annual investments in American factories hit a hundred and fifty billion dollars and nearly three-quarters of this energy investment
00:09:59Went to states that Donald Trump won in 2024
00:10:02They were often located in rural areas hard hit hard by
00:10:06Globalization and technology that needed the skilled workforces for this. So harming energy credits in this reconciliation bill
00:10:15Hurts most the very voters to put Donald Trump in office and Republicans are putting all this at risk
00:10:21This bill would reduce the amount of new capacity
00:10:24energy dominance right by
00:10:27Almost 72 percent by 2035 further cutting the credits while the manufacturing sector is already at risk from Trump's
00:10:34Tariffs, that's meant a lot of these companies right now are letting people go between tariffs and this reconciliation bill more than
00:10:4350,000 energy jobs have been lost
00:10:45Delayed or threatened and fifty six billion dollars of an energy investments stalled or canceled
00:10:51So if you care about energy dominance
00:10:53This is the wrong bill completely unserious and if you care about economic growth
00:10:57thousands of good-paying energy jobs
00:10:59Sending u.s. Manufacturing overseas eliminating the landscape that made domestic investment attractive and it hurts
00:11:06Manufacturing and mining also if you care about affordability
00:11:10Americans are going to pay the price while billionaires reap the profits
00:11:14This is tax cuts for billionaires paid for by our retreat from serious climate addressing
00:11:20Average American residential consumer will see their electricity bill rise by a hundred and ten dollars in
00:11:262026 which is way more than the bottom 20% are going to save in taxes because of this bill
00:11:32Gasoline is going to rise by 37% the cost of households for in a billion an energy over the next year
00:11:38Further this bill eliminates all those credits for home energy efficiency and generation the new solar panels the new heat pump
00:11:46And if you wanted to buy electric vehicles
00:11:48Which 10% of Americans did last year it gets rid of all the tax credits for buying an EV or a commercial electric vehicle
00:11:55And three million Americans use those tax credits in 2023
00:12:00Overall, this bill is going to raise energy costs for every American household. It's a bad deal for America. It's a bad deal for a climate
00:12:07It's a bad deal for economic growth
00:12:09It's a bad deal for a future government and it's a bad deal for all those people that voted for Donald Trump
00:12:14Let me now turn this over to my good friend from Upper, New York State the Paul Tucker
00:12:20Thank you, dad. Let me
00:12:22Let my voice also to condolences on the passing of Jerry Conley
00:12:26Congresswoman Derek Doris met suey and I had the honor of serving as co-chairs with Jerry and
00:12:32It's a heavy moment for seek to
00:12:34For the house for the caucus, but for seek to he was a great leader
00:12:39So we know this bill is full of giveaways to the fossil fuel industry
00:12:43Selling off of our public land and cut rate prices and creating pay-to-pollute permitting schemes
00:12:48But what does it actually mean for average hard-working Americans first?
00:12:52Their electricity bills are going to rise
00:12:54Because this bill functionally ends tax incentives to support the build-out of new affordable energy resources
00:13:00More than half a dozen studies have been produced and they all agree
00:13:04Consumers will see significant increases in energy prices due to these policies
00:13:09People also lose incentives to reduce the upfront costs to retrofit their homes or buy an electric vehicle in
00:13:162023 more than 3.4 million families save some
00:13:208.4 billion dollars on home improvements to make their homes more efficient or to be powered by clean energy
00:13:26Lowering their utility bills for years to come
00:13:30Second jobs will be lost and investments will stop since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act
00:13:36The u.s. Has created more than
00:13:38400,000 new clean energy jobs from over
00:13:41422 billion dollars worth of private sector investments
00:13:45This includes hundreds of facilities to manufacture batteries electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies and process
00:13:54critical minerals
00:13:5575% of private sector clean energy investments are located in counties with household incomes lower than the national medium
00:14:03These investments are uplifting
00:14:05Communities since Republicans launched their crusade to repeal these credits grants and loans
00:14:11They have there have been billions of dollars and more than 50,000 jobs canceled or put on pause
00:14:17Republicans have said they support domestic manufacturing
00:14:21Especially to compete with China on critical minerals the credits and programs
00:14:24They are targeting we're doing just that as an example consider solar energy in the past two years solar
00:14:31Manufacturers have announced 36 billion dollars of investments, which will create over
00:14:3744,000 manufacturing jobs in
00:14:402017 the u.s. Ranked 14th in the world for solar panel manufacturing capacity today
00:14:46The u.s. Has surpassed many competitors and now ranks third in manufacture of solar panels of passing low-wage
00:14:54countries like Malaysia
00:14:56Thailand and Thailand and Vietnam
00:14:58More and more pieces of the supply chain were in process of being reshored many of these new domestic
00:15:04Manufacturers will likely fail without incentives to actually deploy the technologies being produced
00:15:10even technologies that Republicans claim to support
00:15:14Geothermal and advanced nuclear aren't spared tax credit for these technologies will be long expired before any
00:15:21Projects are completed
00:15:23The DOE loan program is critical to getting risky first-of-a-kind projects built and it will be largely defunded by this bill
00:15:31So this bill is a lose-lose. It's bad for people's wallets and it's bad for building a strong competitive economy
00:15:37It sells out current and future generations of Americans to fund tax cuts for billionaires and undermine fossil fuels biggest competition
00:15:46Clean energy
00:15:47Americans will pay more down the road to higher energy bills dirtier air
00:15:52Worsening climate disasters and rising health care costs
00:15:56so, you know important information that we share with the public and also putting that statement forward to the
00:16:03Attention of our u.s. Senators who now will be dealing with this
00:16:07Terrible bill if it should pass so I now and over this. Oh, oh you switch the order
00:16:14Mr. MC, it's yours just a slight programming change
00:16:18We're now going to go to not only a leader in the natural resources committee
00:16:23but a member of the rules committee
00:16:25Who has been up all night and who needs to get back there because the the grand unveiling of the manager's amendment
00:16:32I understand it's coming soon
00:16:33so
00:16:35Let me introduce our great colleague from New Mexico. It's race alleged for names
00:16:39Thank
00:16:42You very much to my colleagues for allowing me to go a little out of order
00:16:46Yes
00:16:46I've been here since one o'clock because they wanted to make sure that in the dark of night
00:16:53They would push through the wool
00:16:57but Democrats have shown up and
00:17:00Have made sure that this bill sees the light of day so that we can shine
00:17:08The light on what they are actually doing and
00:17:11The reality is that the you know
00:17:14It's like what they're focusing on is as dark as their plan to have this done at night
00:17:20Right. They are focusing on making sure they keep the dirtiest
00:17:25energy
00:17:27Dominant when they say energy dominance, it's not about energy
00:17:33which includes the Sun and
00:17:37Geothermal and
00:17:39the wind and
00:17:40Those things that we know can power our homes
00:17:45Cheaper more affordable while also creating the kinds of jobs communities like mine need and want
00:17:55And helping to stop this global
00:18:01heat
00:18:03Problem that we have let's call it. Whatever my people my district. I'm really exhausted. So it's like
00:18:10They ask me these crazy questions, they don't talk about you know, how much Celsius or is it gonna keep getting hot?
00:18:17Teresa what's gonna happen?
00:18:20Is are we gonna keep going through droughts? How come we're not protecting now?
00:18:25My dear, how come we're not protecting this beautiful planet that we call home and I come from a place that honors
00:18:33Land and air and water always be that and I come from a place that not only has the second largest
00:18:41oil development in the country
00:18:44I represent that kind of district New Mexico has the second largest oil production after Texas, but we also
00:18:53have
00:18:55Amazing wind power. We have you know one first or second in terms of solar power depending on who we're competing with
00:19:03We have geothermal and we want to develop all of those resources and what they are doing in that bill of theirs is
00:19:12cutting us off from those possibilities and I think that's what we come back to is they are cutting us off from the
00:19:21possibilities that renewable energy offers
00:19:24for communities like mine and
00:19:28Over and over again, we see them do that. And the other thing they're doing is they are cutting our
00:19:34communities off from the process of
00:19:38participating in
00:19:39decisions about oil and gas leasing and mining
00:19:44They don't want us
00:19:47Communities like mine that are Native American that are poor that are Latino
00:19:52That are world to be able to have the ability to participate in that process
00:20:00They will give a free pass
00:20:04Get out of
00:20:06environmental review fast
00:20:09To those who will pay more
00:20:11But what will they do to the community members who want to participate they're going to charge you
00:20:18To just participate in the process. The other thing they're going to do is eliminate the ability of tribes
00:20:26to have judicial review on
00:20:29Tribal lands and those ancestral lands and we've pointed out all of these problems
00:20:34And I could say that I've got to get back up there because we're on our I think fourth panel
00:20:39And I am so proud of all my Democrats because I think we've got a couple of more panels
00:20:43So they are not going to get that rule out tonight and then they're gonna you know
00:20:47Who knows when their amendment can be I've got at some point in time take a nap because we think they're going to be bringing
00:20:52Us back sometime this evening to report the final rule if they come up with a deal, right?
00:20:59So but we have Democrats on that panel and maybe if I talk to them, they'll be able to get here Kathy Castor
00:21:06And Mike Levin are talking about the issues that we're concerned about here
00:21:10I will be bringing amendments when that the rule is finally comes out
00:21:16I'll be bringing amendments to restore the renewable
00:21:20Tax credits to restore the opportunity to participate to build on to this new energy
00:21:29Economy that we know is so important for our communities because not only do they want to just funnel
00:21:36Money from the poor and the hungry and those who need health care
00:21:42to the wealthiest in
00:21:45terms of tax breaks
00:21:47We also know that they want to funnel money from states like mine who do rely on
00:21:53Oil and gas revenues that when they cut those royalty rates
00:21:58They're cutting income to my state
00:22:01And we're gonna need it because when they kick those people off of Medicaid and they stop funding the
00:22:07Education and they stop funding the nutrition programs
00:22:12They're also
00:22:14Taking away the state money that we would need to fill the gap
00:22:18So every which way they look at that every which way we look at this bill it is as somebody said
00:22:26lose lose lose
00:22:28everybody
00:22:30except the dirty
00:22:33Of the manufacturers and the dirtiest of the fuel that we have in this beautiful
00:22:40Country of origin will keep shining a light on it. And hopefully you all will keep talking about it as well
00:22:45And so with that I'm gonna turn it back
00:22:49We're gonna figure it out, we're gonna get back on track
00:22:53It is now my pleasure to
00:22:56Introduce someone who had a major hand in the clean energy
00:23:00Incentives in the IRA that we're making such a an amazing difference from the Ways and Means Committee representative Mike Thomas
00:23:15Jared thank you very much for organizing this and I want to thank all of my colleagues who were
00:23:21equally responsible for the great successes that we have
00:23:26Jared talked about my work on Ways and Means and as you probably know in the Inflation Reduction Act
00:23:32We put provisions in
00:23:34tax provisions and that dealt specifically with
00:23:38advancing
00:23:39Renewable energy and this is for solar wind
00:23:43geothermal bio bio bio fuels
00:23:47residential and commercial energy
00:23:50efficiency
00:23:51electric vehicles zero emission buses clean energy
00:23:56Manufacturing projects and a billion dollars a year for colleges to create or to expand
00:24:03environmental justice
00:24:04programs
00:24:0793% of the new American energy supply
00:24:11in the last year
00:24:12It's from solar wind and batteries and as someone has already said today
00:24:18This is responsible for about
00:24:23400,000 green energy jobs new jobs
00:24:27Jobs that pay well jobs that are important and it's created about a four hundred billion dollar
00:24:34investment in these
00:24:37projects across the United States now, it's interesting to note that while I
00:24:43was at the Ways and Means are at the
00:24:46Rules committee just a minute ago
00:24:48I just came down there and I had an amendment to undo the terrible things that they're doing to renewable energy
00:24:56And I'd be willing to bet that the outcome will be the same as last week when Ways and Means did our markup
00:25:03I offered the same amendment and I'd be willing to bet not a single
00:25:08Republican on rules will vote for it
00:25:11They'll follow suit of the Republicans on Ways and Means who also
00:25:16Voted against that measure and it's important to note because over half of the new clean jobs
00:25:24created by those
00:25:26By those provisions in the IRA are in red states in
00:25:32Republican
00:25:34districts, so
00:25:36The
00:25:38Republican bill that were this one big ugly bill that we've been debating
00:25:44nearly around the clock
00:25:46Cuts all the clean energy production. It'll raise
00:25:52Electric costs
00:25:54by about a hundred and ten dollars per year per household and
00:25:59Someone mentioned how that will be offset by the tax cuts and I did the math quickly
00:26:05and
00:26:07so
00:26:09people under
00:26:10$50,000 a year are going to get about
00:26:15$260 in tax cuts and if you subtract the
00:26:20The energy cost of that that just about cuts their tax cuts in half
00:26:25So talk about giveth with one hand and take it with the other. That's exactly what's going to happen
00:26:32The American consumer will see their utility costs go up by at least a hundred and ten dollars
00:26:40per year
00:26:41It's going to kill
00:26:44hundreds of thousands of
00:26:47manufacturing jobs
00:26:48Across our country and and again, these are manufacturing jobs in the renewable energy
00:26:55Space and when we did this bill when I did this bill in in ways and means we were
00:27:01We crafted this to be both supply side and demand side
00:27:06So they could work together to have this good outcome
00:27:10If you start picking it apart from one side or the other the whole supply chain
00:27:16falls apart and it's going to be
00:27:19apocalyptic for the renewable energy
00:27:22Future of our country and I think it's important to point out
00:27:27That that in itself is a disaster because we're competing fiercely with the Chinese for
00:27:35dominance in the renewable energy field and what we're doing what the Republicans are doing with this bill is
00:27:43They are acquiescing
00:27:45Our prominence in that particular space to the Chinese. It's not good for national security
00:27:52It's not good when we have one of our main competitors someone who you're pretty hard-pressed to suggest
00:27:59They might be an ally working so hard against us bad bill Jared. Thank you for calling us together
00:28:05Thank you to all of you for the good work that you've done to get us here
00:28:10to Doris to
00:28:12the gentlewoman on the
00:28:15Energy and Commerce Committee someone who knows this stuff well and has done a great job on it. All right, I'm some endorsements
00:28:22Thank you so much. Hello everybody
00:28:26As co-chair of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition
00:28:29Along with my good friend Paul Tomko. We have been engaged in these issues for quite some time
00:28:35Probably a decade or so and now this is sort of the fruition that we've been hoping that we can do everything and now here
00:28:42We are defending all our good work, but I would tell you this
00:28:46We will still be there I've spent years fighting for clean air and clean water and
00:28:51Clean energy and my goal has always been simple to protect people's health and build a cleaner more prosperous future
00:28:59Unfortunately, my Republican colleagues are doing the opposite
00:29:03They're both beautiful bill will gut environmental protections
00:29:08Endanger public health and wreck our economy and let's be honest. There's nothing beautiful about it
00:29:15It's dangerous reckless and flat-out ugly
00:29:19This bill attacks the basic right to clean air and clean water
00:29:25by eliminating and defunding clean energy and
00:29:29Pollution reduction programs. They're endangering everyone
00:29:33including their own constituents
00:29:36Americans, especially our children are going to suffer because of these reckless careless actions our friends
00:29:44Families and neighbors are going to get sick more often
00:29:48They're going to have more lifelong chronic conditions and they're going to die younger
00:29:55Republicans want to let oil and gas companies pay to break the rules
00:30:00bypassing environmental safeguards and even dodging legal liability
00:30:06That's not reform
00:30:08That's legalized bribery
00:30:10Their auction off our public health lands to the highest bidder
00:30:15prioritizing profit over our environment and
00:30:19Sacrificing the health and future of our communities, but they couldn't stop there
00:30:26Republicans big ugly bill will wreck our economy
00:30:30it was certainly abruptly and hundreds of billions of dollars and federal investments for American manufacturing and
00:30:37Investments, it will pull the rug out from
00:30:41American workers
00:30:42Killing jobs and shuttering businesses across our country and families will pay the price
00:30:48With electricity bills rising over a hundred ten dollars a year
00:30:53All to hand out tax breaks to the wealthy few
00:30:57To my Republican colleagues. I asked what is the endgame here?
00:31:03What do you hope to accomplish?
00:31:05To enrich a few friends
00:31:08While toxic pollutants shorten our lifespans
00:31:11While all companies simply pay the government to look the other way
00:31:16While American manufacturing is gutted for corporate gain
00:31:20We can't let this stand
00:31:23We have to look towards the future for the future of our children and our grandchildren
00:31:27We can't let them down. So we cannot allow Republicans to sell out our nation's future
00:31:35Not now and not ever and as we stand here, we're just a few of the fighters we have here
00:31:41We've been fighting all through our markups energy and commerce is in for 26 hours
00:31:46I think ways and means for 17 hours and the other committees are multiple hours and today with rules with all of us
00:31:54cycling through and
00:31:55We're going to keep cycling through I'm going to be going up there now, too
00:31:58And honestly, this is the moment for all of us. This is the moment we have to stand up
00:32:05Because we have already done so much good. Let's not lose that. Let's keep it going
00:32:11Let's make sure the ground is softened so that we can in a couple years
00:32:16Ensure that our nation's future will be bright and prosperous. So thank you so very much for being here
00:32:23Thank You representative Matsui enough. I'm gonna now hand off to someone who knows more about
00:32:28Clean energy and climate policy than just about anyone else in the Congress the gentleman from Illinois Sean Cassidy
00:32:35Thank You Jared, thanks to everybody for being here. It's been a long day for all of us
00:32:39Don't quite have Teresa's record. I've only been up since 230, but respect everybody who's been around you this long
00:32:44I wanted to share just a quick Jerry Connolly story. So I was 20 years in the clean energy industry
00:32:50get to Congress in 2019 and
00:32:53You get sort of slapped with this realization as a freshman that your prior experience doesn't matter in this line of work
00:32:59It's how long you've been in this line of work that matters and I was lamenting to Jerry how?
00:33:04Trying to figure out how I get to some point of some influence over clean energy and
00:33:09Jared county with her. I'm sorry. Jerry came up to me a week later
00:33:12And he said I know I've been in leadership on seek for a long time
00:33:16But we need to make room for you and I'm gonna step down next term so you can take it. It's just
00:33:21We'll miss Jerry because he's a great environmental champion. We'll miss him because he's a great legislator
00:33:25We'll miss him because he was a great patriot, but he was someone who cared about this institution and we need more of that. So
00:33:32Celebrate do something. Thank you. Thank Jerry
00:33:35so I represent the
00:33:37South side of Chicago Southwest suburbs, which means that I represent one of our particularly pained marginalized communities
00:33:44I'm referring of course to White Sox fans
00:33:48Set the record for losses last year. I don't know if they'll do much better this year
00:33:54But if you are a White Sox fan
00:33:58You kind of view the world is having two choices right now
00:34:01They can either keep stinking and the stands can keep getting emptier and they can eventually sell the team to somebody because they'll go bankrupt
00:34:08Or they can find a way to start winning
00:34:11There's no world where you say, you know what the White Sox should do
00:34:14They should go to Congress and ask Congress to kick the Dodgers out of the league
00:34:19Kick the Yankees out of the league and announce that starting next season
00:34:23Major League Baseball will consist of the White Sox and a bunch of double-a teams and they can finally win
00:34:28That would be what a loser does who can't play with the big boys, right?
00:34:33and
00:34:34So here we find ourselves. Let's just review some numbers this year
00:34:38We're on pace the 25% of all vehicle sales are going to be EVs by 2030. That's going to be 40%
00:34:44That's surging as I said it rules today. That's not because people got woke
00:34:48It's because you'd have to be damn near comatose to think I would rather drive a car that has high fuel cost high maintenance cost
00:34:53and crappy acceleration
00:34:55They're buying it because it's a better product
00:34:58The result of that transition to EV is the result of the transition to renewables to efficiencies is that over the last 15 years?
00:35:04Coal went from being 50% of energy use in the country to now
00:35:0914% like it's just completely collapsed lost all market share
00:35:13Oil used today in the United States is about the same as it was 15 years ago
00:35:17The whole oil industry is is basically falling apart
00:35:21They have shipped from being an oil extraction business to a cash extraction business because they can't find markets
00:35:26One of the biggest demands for oil right now is plastics. That's not because plastics are growing
00:35:30It's because those other markets are shrinking especially in China because China's electrifying faster than we are. That is awesome
00:35:36Right and so the oil industry the gas industry, which is also losing market share the coal industry
00:35:43Could play like a big boy
00:35:45They could do like the White Sox are doing and either say I'm gonna keep sucking until I go bankrupt because in competitive markets
00:35:52That's what happens when you suck
00:35:53Or I could find a way to pivot and sell people what they want because that's how competitive markets work
00:35:59That's how entrepreneurs work and god damn it. I love America
00:36:02They are instead choosing to say to go to Congress and say can you please
00:36:06Kick the competitive people out of my industry because I can't compete
00:36:09So they're going out there and saying let's ban the construction of new transmission lines
00:36:13Let's ban the construction of offshore wind because every time you build one of those
00:36:16It makes it harder for me to sell my product to people who don't want it. Let's ban the construction of EV charging stations
00:36:22Let's ban the construction of EVs
00:36:23Let's build LNG export terminals because if we export gas overseas
00:36:27It raises the price of natural gas in the United States and I can make more money
00:36:31Especially if I don't have to compete with the Yankees
00:36:35The trouble is that us winners work with a bunch of losers
00:36:42And they love their losers, right? I mean you look at these guys look at the people in Trump's cabinet
00:36:47This is not the a-team
00:36:48These are guys who got swirlies and got shoved in locker rooms in high school and are still dealing with like the mental stress that
00:36:54Came because nobody loves them their parents didn't love them
00:36:55We're having to deal with all this instead of going through and like look we could just mock them
00:37:00We should mock them, but the consequence of all this is that the temperatures going up
00:37:06The consequence of this is that we're not building resources. We went from I
00:37:10Mean what we had the fastest growing economy in the world just a couple months ago
00:37:15We had surges of manufacturing in America. We've now got people saying if I build a factory in America
00:37:21Am I going to be able to plug into a grid that's going to have reliable supply because I know what you're going to build
00:37:25Can I build a plant in America and know that the contract law will protect me, right?
00:37:32Can I build can I build resources in America and know that the price of energy is going to come down?
00:37:38We don't have to have this choice, right?
00:37:40And that the cost of that's going to be American consumers who are not only not going to have cheaper energy are not only not
00:37:45Going to have a reliable electric grid are not only not going to have the industries that are providing jobs
00:37:49That are sitting there with an ever-warming climate and ever rising seas and ever bigger hurricanes
00:37:54This is a self-inflicted wound
00:37:57Doesn't have to be this way
00:37:59We're gonna fight with every fiber of our being to make sure that we do the policy, right?
00:38:03That we look out for the dignity of this institution the way that Jerry taught us to even if the other side won't do it
00:38:08But we mock these losers with every fiber of our being
00:38:12And we deliver for the American people because that's why we're here
00:38:18Last but certainly not least since there is a war on science
00:38:23That is very much a part of this Trump agenda and this big
00:38:28Billionaire bill of theirs our champion for the climate and for science Suzanne Bonamici more
00:38:35Thank you so much. It's really an honor to be here with such climate champions and a challenge. I must say to follow
00:38:43Sean Caston I
00:38:45Don't have a baseball analogy, but I have a story and I'm telling it for two reasons
00:38:49I'm the daughter of immigrants
00:38:51My grandparents came to this country from Italy for the American dream where they knew
00:38:56When they came to this country the next generation would have a better life and that happened
00:39:01my parents generation had a better life than my grandparents and my
00:39:06siblings, and I had a better life than
00:39:09than my parents generation and
00:39:12I'm hopeful that my children's generation will have a better future and a better life
00:39:17And my children they're Aaron they're in their 30s. My son was born in
00:39:231988 that was the year the first year that a NASA scientist came to the US House of Representatives and sent a warning
00:39:31about climate change
00:39:32anthropogenic climate change
00:39:34So that was the first time that testimony happened as far as I know in the US House of Representatives
00:39:40almost 37 years ago
00:39:42The second reason I'm telling the story is because my grandfather who came from Italy had been a stonemason in Italy when they came
00:39:49Through Ellis Island and ended up in Pennsylvania. He got a job in the coal mines
00:39:54And he worked in the coal mines for a while until he lost his leg and then he eventually passed away from lung disease
00:40:00So I tell that story because why in the world we want to put people back to work in coal mines
00:40:05It makes no sense for many many reasons
00:40:09so imagine my
00:40:11pride and excitement when I worked with my colleagues here and we were able to make such amazing
00:40:18progress with the Inflation Reduction Act and other climate policies finally
00:40:24starting way back in the 80s and finally making a difference and and it really was
00:40:30Something to celebrate was it enough? No, was it a great start?
00:40:34Absolutely, but we know we have more work to do and that's why we're here today to say not on our watch
00:40:41Will this big bad bill?
00:40:44advance
00:40:45Because it started as we know
00:40:48through the committees
00:40:49but now they started at one o'clock in the morning in the dark of night because
00:40:54They don't want people to know what's in this people are just now finding things that are in it
00:40:58It's saying what in the world is this?
00:41:00but we know it is a blueprint to bulldoze many of the natural resources that Oregonians treasure and
00:41:07Rely on for their livelihoods. I represent the district where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean
00:41:13it is a magnificent district and
00:41:15beautiful, but I tell you I am
00:41:18It's beautiful. But this bill isn't this bill is going to hand over
00:41:24Oregon's public lands to big oil to polluters
00:41:27it's going to cut trails and salmon streams and hunting grounds and
00:41:31Repealing the clean energy tax credits as Sean Kasten was saying. This is absurd
00:41:36It's gonna force families to pay more because we know fossil fuels are costing more
00:41:41But CEOs of fossil fuel companies are going to be cashing in, you know, the Republicans claim that we're in some sort of energy emergency
00:41:50but this bill supports the dangerous and
00:41:53unsustainable
00:41:54and
00:41:55Harmful fossil fuel industry that is hurting people planet wildlife
00:42:01It's slashing good-paying jobs in solar, wind
00:42:06Geothermal and that's something that I've cared about because on the education and workforce committee
00:42:11I'm the one who threw it throughout the select committee in our work saying
00:42:15Addressing climate change is also about good jobs
00:42:18Well, these are jobs that are going to be going away if this bill passes in in not just in Blue, Oregon
00:42:25But also in red states that are depending on these growing industries
00:42:30And again, it makes no sense because renewable energy look at solar
00:42:35It's less expensive and when you consider the health care costs, it's way less expensive
00:42:39I have to say too that this bill would also put Oregonians and Americans in increased danger of real
00:42:46Emergencies they face because of the climate crisis
00:42:49We've seen an increase we know in extreme weather events
00:42:54wildfires
00:42:55But I'm extremely concerned about gutting wildfire prevention
00:43:00I don't want smoke-filled summers to be our new normal
00:43:04Slashing coastal resilience funding. We are seeing sea level rise in Astoria seaside other coastal towns
00:43:13Stripping resources away from climate smart farming as Oregon growers are facing
00:43:18Increasing drought and heat we have a terrible heat dome a couple of years ago
00:43:23So this massive GOP tax scam is all pain for working families and all gain for billionaires in the boardroom
00:43:31Oregonians and Americans know what at stake
00:43:33What is at stake our coastline our forest, but importantly our future so we're not going to back down
00:43:41We're we're going to be here for the fight and the fight is for our people, but it's also for our planet
00:43:48So I was already in the rules committee. I know they're going on
00:43:52Still we're going to do everything we can to stop this
00:43:57Big bad bill from going forward
00:44:00And I said who's afraid of the big bad bill a lot of people and for good reason
00:44:07All right
00:44:10A dramatic
00:44:13Your headliner
00:44:16Like
00:44:17Well, thank you so much Jared, and thanks to everybody
00:44:21Sorry for being a little late finally got to speak at the rules committee
00:44:26After I don't even know how many hours, but we got it done
00:44:30Wanted to just take a second and offer my condolences to the loved ones loved ones of my friend and colleague Jerry Connolly
00:44:38We certainly miss Jerry he was a really wonderful man great friend and
00:44:42Gone far too soon
00:44:44I'm congressman Mike Levin. I represent Southern, California and one of the vice chairs to seek and
00:44:50My message to you today is simple and I would imagine is pretty similar to some that you've heard
00:44:56House Republicans want to raise your energy bills cut jobs and frankly kill the planet
00:45:02To give bigger tax breaks to polluters and billionaires like Elon Musk
00:45:07And some white house Republicans want you to believe
00:45:11But it's the truth
00:45:12Over the past year Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been talking about how the cost of living is too high
00:45:19We've all heard that
00:45:21But they've been to use one of President Trump's expressions all talk and no action
00:45:28Instead of working to lower costs and pass policies that actually uplift Americans. They're pushing one of the most harmful
00:45:35Misguided and backward bills I have ever seen
00:45:39I've been in Congress for six and a half years, and I've seen my fair share of bad bills
00:45:44But this one tops the list
00:45:47If they succeed House Republicans will strip health care away from 14 million
00:45:54Americans including 2 million just in our state of California
00:45:58They'll take food assistance away from over 10 million kids
00:46:03Seniors and veterans
00:46:05But the cruelty doesn't stop there
00:46:08They want to roll back all the progress. We've made over the past few years combating the climate crisis
00:46:14They want to gut the investments that we've made in clean energy and in clean manufacturing, and they want to raise your
00:46:21energy bills
00:46:23Why so that the rich can get richer?
00:46:26That's what I want to spend just a second on
00:46:29Today I'm the father of two young kids an 11 year old and a 12 year old and
00:46:34Like any parent my hope for my kids is that they have a better life than their parents
00:46:40When I was growing up in Southern, California
00:46:43We still had smugglers all the time and at school you do a lap on the track and your lungs would start to burn
00:46:51We made a lot of progress. We were intentional about that progress over a number of years
00:46:55We put those days largely behind us, but with their so-called one big
00:47:01beautiful bill
00:47:03That's exactly where the Republicans want to take us back to
00:47:07That's not the future that I want for my kids or for your kids
00:47:10As part of their bill House Republicans want to pollute our air and our water
00:47:15Cut jobs and raise our energy bills and extent instead of expanding the investments that we've already made
00:47:23To combat climate change House Republicans want to sell our public lands to the highest fossil fuel bidders
00:47:30Often giving them the green light to destroy our air and our water
00:47:36Their plan would pull the rug out from under manufacturing companies looking to invest in the u.s.
00:47:42Seeding our clean energy future to China and other countries
00:47:46Guiding clean energy tax credits would also kill American manufacturing jobs
00:47:51Just last year
00:47:5393% of all new American energy supply came from solar wind and battery storage think of that
00:48:0093% and we stand to lose many many jobs in those industries and those are in red states and in blue states
00:48:07This GOP tax scam also repeals cost-saving clean energy tax credits, which means on average
00:48:14Families will pay about 7% more on their energy bills every year. You heard that, right?
00:48:20The average family will pay about a hundred and ten dollars a year more in energy bills
00:48:25So for all their talk about an energy crisis, here's how I know Republicans aren't serious about
00:48:32lowering energy costs
00:48:33You cannot declare a national energy emergency while cutting out clean energy
00:48:39The math doesn't add up
00:48:42You cannot claim to want to lower costs and then push legislation that would raise energy costs for nearly every household in
00:48:49America doesn't pass the smell test
00:48:52Instead of giving families a tax break for switching to clean energy. They want to give tax breaks to big oil and
00:48:59At every turn they've taken house Republicans have put polluters and billionaires ahead of working families
00:49:07Sabotaging America's ability to compete globally to protect our health and to build a cleaner future
00:49:13It's an attack on every single American of all political parties
00:49:18of all backgrounds who values clean air
00:49:22safe drinking water
00:49:24public health and
00:49:25Economic fairness. So why are Republicans doing this? Why are they pushing this terrible bill?
00:49:32It's simple tax breaks for their billionaire donors and that certainly includes the fossil fuel industry
00:49:40They made they made their choice
00:49:42They're not going back on it, but we have a choice too. We have a choice to fight back
00:49:47We can choose clean air we can choose clean water we can choose the good-paying jobs of the future
00:49:53We can choose that future that's affordable. That's equitable
00:49:57That's sustainable for our kids and for generations to come and that's what I'm going to fight like hell for
00:50:02And I'm proud to stand with all of you in that fight. Thank you
00:50:07All right. Thanks to my great colleagues here and we are happy to answer any of your questions
00:50:12Yeah
00:50:29Yeah, I mean it's it's a terrible thing
00:50:33I can't really speak to the institutional concern about you know, how that shreds, you know, what's left of
00:50:40Senate culture, if you will
00:50:43But I can say that that Clean Air Act waiver authority has been foundational to California's leadership
00:50:48And it's something that we're going to need to fight for
00:50:51I'm very disappointed that we lost some Democratic votes on that as it made its way out of the house
00:50:56I think some of those Democrats now regret that vote
00:51:00And I'm hoping that the Senate stands strong in defending that authority
00:51:05For not just California, but for a bunch of other clean air clean car states
00:51:10But if they don't if they manage to, you know, use this dubious
00:51:15Application of the Congressional Review Act there certainly will be a major challenge in court and I'm optimistic that that will be successful
00:51:22Yeah
00:51:24So being from Southern California in an area where again, I grew up with constant smog alerts
00:51:29Is very very important to me that we don't go back to those days and in my office
00:51:33I have a 8.5 by 11 photo from 1967
00:51:38the creation of the California Air Resources Board signed into law by Governor Ronald Reagan and
00:51:45Republicans would be well served to remember that Ronald Reagan was governor in 1970 when Richard Nixon, President Richard Nixon and
00:51:53Congressional Republicans and Democrats were elected to the Senate
00:51:56President Richard Nixon and
00:51:58Congressional Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass the Federal Clean Air Act
00:52:03California asked for and received a waiver having created CARB three years prior
00:52:09Governor Reagan and then Governor Brown
00:52:12Governor Wilson
00:52:14Governor Davis all the way through Governor Brown again
00:52:17Governor Newsom all of them regardless of party have worked very hard and in California
00:52:22We have 35 air districts that deal with stationary source air pollution and we to this day
00:52:26we have the California Air Resources Board that deals with mobile source pollution and they have done an incredible job and
00:52:33They haven't been hamstrung by any federal rules. They set the targets for California to reduce criteria pollutants
00:52:40We haven't gotten all the way there. That's the other thing. We are still in non-attainment for criteria pollutants in California
00:52:46We've got a long way to go now is not the time to start kneecapping us in
00:52:51California we want to set our own standards
00:52:53We should have the right to do so and my colleagues are completely misguided
00:52:56And I think the courts are going to have their day and we're going to be there to fight like hell alongside them and prevent
00:53:02this from happening I
00:53:05Would just add that the party that
00:53:06Celebrates states rights when it comes to suppressing women's rights to choose or supporting people's rights to run through this capital carrying Confederate flags
00:53:13Would be well-pressed to support states rights when it comes to California's rights to control the air and water
00:53:20Yeah
00:53:21Hi, Amelia with E&E News. I've got two questions
00:53:25The first is I know there's a contingent a small contingent of moderate
00:53:29Republicans who are pushing to keep some of the clean energy credits or at least extend their sunset period and I'm curious to what extent
00:53:36You guys are supporting those efforts
00:53:38And then also as this bill comes a little bit closer to moving toward the Senate
00:53:43To what extent you guys are collaborating with other Democrats in the Senate?
00:53:48to defend
00:53:49Or to fight against this bill when it gets there
00:53:52Yeah, I'm sure my colleagues will have something to say but it's it's showtime for those Republicans who have said that they
00:54:00Acknowledge climate science that they support these clean energy incentives
00:54:04It's encouraging that they've been able to put their names on letters and offer various expressions of support for the clean energy future
00:54:12But now it's time for them to walk the walk and we're about to find out what's more important
00:54:17The jobs in their districts and their state that clean energy transformation is creating all these wonderful possibilities
00:54:25Acceptance of climate reality. I may be great if they prioritize that
00:54:29But they're under a lot of pressure from Donald Trump. So it's proven time
00:54:35Speaking up speaking out is so important right now and to hold the line
00:54:40because these are these are tax incentives and
00:54:44Rebates that are very important to their district and to a lot of districts
00:54:49So there are a number of who signed that letter, but they should follow it up with real action
00:54:54the first rule of negotiation
00:54:57Watch watch their feet not their lips
00:55:00Serious right like don't waste time listening to what they're saying
00:55:05When Donald Trump called Mike Lawler out and said, you know, you're gonna fold because I know your district
00:55:09That's a chance for Mike Lawler to
00:55:12Move his feet
00:55:15Again it's gonna come down to what they do and they push the yes not button or the no button because
00:55:21Over my years here. There have been Republicans who have stepped up and said, you know climate change is real
00:55:26We need to do something about it and we have particularly through the sustainable energy environment
00:55:31Coalition had meetings with the groups of folks and on a bipartisan basis who say they support extended extended tax credits
00:55:38But what are they going to do when they push the button?
00:55:40So I think if you add the other
00:55:44Serious issues like Medicaid and I I can't imagine that some of them won't feel a lot of pressure to
00:55:51To vote this down because you know, like with Medicaid a lot of those are rural areas
00:55:57Just like a lot of these benefits go to rural areas
00:55:59So we're just hopeful but you know, it's going to depend on what happens and how much pressure they get from the administration
00:56:05Maybe we have to go to the last question
00:56:10I
00:56:20Just wondering I mean it's sort of like I don't want to play too much three chess on where the end product is
00:56:25But it feels like they're really going, you know after like wind and solar
00:56:29They're starting to make this argument that I mean as you said, I think it was you congressman about a 92% of new
00:56:35Electricity last year winds or batteries that they just they don't need this anymore. Maybe the way they could
00:56:41Keep incentives for some of the advanced technologies that they like like nuclear and geothermal
00:56:45I'll be here Chris right talking about it in hearings today on his budget proposal like
00:56:51Do what I guess what do you say to that?
00:56:53I mean, is there a way to sort of unpack that where the end product could actually be not so terrible
00:56:59You know
00:57:01Yeah, it's not all of the above but that's not gonna happen judge, okay if they get rid of the incentives for
00:57:09Renewables and for battery storage and for clean energy manufacturing
00:57:13But they keep some goodies for the oil and gas industry carbon capture pipelines
00:57:19You know dirty hydrogen that is not a compromise. That is not
00:57:24Anything that I think any of us could live with it's a disaster for winning the future. It's a disaster for consumers
00:57:30It's a disaster for the environment
00:57:31And you know that one of the biggest selling features when we did the negotiation was a long-term
00:57:37Incentive so that there's predictability and certainty, which is so important to the industry and you don't
00:57:43Unplug all of the the efforts now that came forward to really build the success story bad timing bad timing
00:57:50And it just shows where it's their loyalty lies
00:57:52I would also like I mean if I just like make a less snarky version of my opening remarks
00:57:59You the oil and gas industry all of their profits come from the upstream end
00:58:04You know if you're running a well that produces at $30 a barrel and you can sell at 70 you make a lot of money
00:58:09There's not a lot of money in refining. There's not a lot of money in distribution. There's not a lot of money in retail sales
00:58:15They don't really know how to make money in
00:58:18In an industry that sells that has no lot no fuel cost
00:58:22But it just it's a fundamentally different skill set
00:58:25It's not saying they're like they're very smart people, but they don't know how to make money in that world
00:58:29And so any transition is a huge economic threat to that sector
00:58:35And I think the challenge the Republican Party has is that their leadership is all from the oil patch
00:58:39Right you got Mike Johnson from Louisiana Steve Scalise from Louisiana Thune from the Bakken oil fields the I
00:58:47Think it's understandable why those folks would feel concerned that if we're going to lower the price of energy in America
00:58:54That's going to do all that's going to be rough for jobs and employment on the Gulf Coast in the Bakken
00:58:59And I think we can be sensitive to that and in the IRA. We were very intentional. Thanks to the leadership of a lot of
00:59:04people here of
00:59:07Prioritizing investments in those energy transition communities, and that's why you've seen so many of those investments
00:59:12But they're still getting pressure because the industries that employ people are saying I don't like this transition
00:59:19Because that's digital film and I'm Kodak and I can't get there from here
00:59:25And and I think I think we I think we it behooves us to be very sensitive to like those loss of jobs in those
00:59:31But at the same point like the loser is the American consumer because there's a lot more energy consumers than their energy producers real quick
00:59:37Are you surprised that?
00:59:39You know, I know you were very intentional with the IRA that these investments would spread to all the states and districts with an eye
00:59:45Toward maybe that would help protect them. We have yet to hear a house modern Republicans say they will vote on this bill
00:59:51For that reason like are you surprised that maybe it's not working out that way to put you know
00:59:56I would say I think I've had this conversation before like I find the Iowa caucus really interesting to watch
01:00:03It's not an oil patch state. It's not a gas patch state. It's not a coal patch state
01:00:07They got a ton of wind. They got a ton of biofuels
01:00:10They also don't really have anyone in leadership and if that caucus was putting their constituents first, they would be making a lot of noise
01:00:18But like it's the fact that like the leadership of the Republican Party is saying no
01:00:23Like we we have to do things that are gonna be bad for Iowa and they're not flinching
01:00:27That's I think that's a structural problem. I mean, I don't know I'm talking too much. No, that's good
01:00:31I also think that if it was a standalone bill, it would be very different
01:00:35But you know oftentimes either people who are saying why are you putting so many things in one bill?
01:00:39And then now they're putting so many things in one bill
01:00:42But if it was you know, this is the only issue they were voting on it might be different, but it's not
01:00:47Clearly the strategy of the one big beautiful bill
01:00:50And to Suzanne's point, you know
01:00:52Every one of these members only has so much political capital and if they're trying to advocate for salt or Medicaid
01:01:00And for the continuation of those tax provisions, you know
01:01:04The red line that I've seen a lot of them draw is on salt or is on Medicaid as opposed to the clean energy tax provisions
01:01:12I hope that there are a couple senators
01:01:14Who decide that the red line is actually those clean energy tax provisions because of the tremendous economic impact that those investments are already
01:01:22Yielding in their states. We'll see
01:01:26Thank you everybody, all right folks, thanks. Thanks guys