subcomm environment & climate change hse

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</font></div><div>ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE</div><div>Jurisdiction includes: The Clean Air Act and air emissions; all matters related to soil, air, and water contamination, including Superfund and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; the regulation of solid, hazardous, and nuclear wastes, including mining, nuclear, oil, gas, and coal combustion waste; emergency environmental response and Superfund (including Community Right To Know); industrial plant security, including cybersecurity; the regulation of drinking water (Safe Drinking Water Act), including underground injection of fluids (e.g., deep well injection or hydrofracking); toxic substances (Toxic Substances Control Act); noise; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Chemical Safety Board; environmental justice as it relates to the above-referenced jurisdiction;&nbsp; and all aspects of the above-referenced jurisdiction relatedto the Department of Homeland Security.</div><div>
</div><div>RECENT ACTIVITY</div><div>Hearing on "The Fiscal Year 2023 EPA Budget"</div><div>May 17, 2022 Hearing</div><div>Pallone Opening Remarks at Budget Hearing with EPA Administrator Regan</div><div>May 17, 2022 Press Release</div><div>Pallone Opening Remarks at Conference Committee on the America COMPETES Act and USICA</div><div>May 12, 2022 Press Release</div><div>E&C Announces Budget Hearing with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan</div><div>May 10, 2022 Press Release</div><div>Pallone Applauds Biden Administration for New Vehicle Fuel Economy Standards for Model Years 2024-2026</div><div>Apr 1, 2022 Press Release</div><div>PAGES</div><div>12345…next ›last »</div><div>
</div><div><b>CHAIRMAN</b></div><div><b>Paul Tonko</b></div><div>climatehawk</div><div>New York ~ 20</div><div>
</div><div><b>DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS</b></div><div>Diana DeGette</div><div>Diana DeGette</div><div>Colorado ~ 01</div><div>Janice Schakowsky</div><div>Janice D. Schakowsky</div><div>Illinois ~ 09</div><div>John Sarbanes</div><div>John P. Sarbanes</div><div>Maryland ~ 03</div><div>Yvette Clarke</div><div>Yvette D. Clarke</div><div>New York ~ 09</div><div>Raul Ruiz</div><div>Raul Ruiz</div><div>California ~ 36</div><div>Scott Peters</div><div>Scott H. Peters</div><div>California ~ 52</div><div>Debbie Dingell</div><div>Debbie Dingell</div><div>Michigan ~ 12</div><div>Nanette Barragán</div><div>Nanette Diaz Barragán</div><div>California ~ 44</div><div>A. McEachin</div><div>A. Donald McEachin</div><div>Virginia ~ 04</div><div>Lisa Blunt Rochester</div><div>Lisa Blunt Rochester</div><div>Delaware ~</div><div>Darren Soto</div><div>Darren Soto</div><div>Florida ~ 09</div><div>Tom O'Halleran</div><div>Tom O'Halleran</div><div>Arizona ~ 01</div><div>Frank Pallone</div><div>Frank Pallone, Jr.</div><div>New Jersey ~ 06</div><div>Ex officio</div><div>RANKING MEMBER</div><div>David McKinley</div><div>David B. McKinley</div><div>West Virginia ~ 01</div><div>
</div><div>REPUBLICAN MEMBERS</div><div>Bill Johnson</div><div>Bill Johnson</div><div>Ohio ~ 06</div><div>Markwayne Mullin</div><div>Markwayne Mullin</div><div>Oklahoma ~ 02</div><div>Richard Hudson</div><div>Richard Hudson</div><div>North Carolina ~ 08</div><div>Earl Carter</div><div>Earl L. "Buddy" Carter</div><div>Georgia ~ 01</div><div>Jeff Duncan</div><div>Jeff Duncan</div><div>South Carolina ~ 03</div><div>Gary Palmer</div><div>Gary J. Palmer</div><div>Alabama ~ 06</div><div>John Curtis</div><div>John R. Curtis</div><div>Utah ~ 03</div><div>Dan Crenshaw</div><div>Dan Crenshaw</div><div>Texas ~ 02</div><div>Cathy Rodgers</div><div>Cathy McMorris Rodgers</div><div>Washington ~ 05</div><div>Ex officio</div><div>
</div><div>COMMITTEE'S ACTIVITY IN PREVIOUS CONGRESS</div><div>Environment & Climate Change (116th Congress)</div><div>Environment (115th Congress)</div><div>Environment and the Economy (114th Congress)</div><div>=</div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GOP</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>three medical doctors?!&nbsp;&nbsp;</b></font><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); font-size: 14px;">Bucshon specialized in&nbsp;</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiothoracic_surgery" title="Cardiothoracic surgery" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-size: 14px;">cardiothoracic surgery</a><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); font-size: 14px;">&nbsp;and has performed hundreds of heart surgeries; joyce derma; burgess gyno?</span></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">UKRAINE WAR WATERSHED GAS PRICE DRILL BABY</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span segoe="Segoe" ui="UI" roboto="Roboto" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap"><div><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">E&C Republicans&nbsp;</b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Urge Biden to&nbsp;</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Flip the Switch&nbsp;</b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">for More ...https://republicans-energycommerce.house.gov › news</span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Mar 21, 2022 — Rep. John Joyce, M.D. (R-PA): “It's time to return not only to American energy independence, but American energy dominance. It's time ...</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);"><a href="https://republicans-energycommerce.house.gov/news/ec-republicans-urge-biden-to-flip-the-switch-for-more-american-energy/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://republicans-energycommerce.house.gov/news/ec-republicans-urge-biden-to-flip-the-switch-for-more-american-energy/</a></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">no twt vid</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">BLOG</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">E&C Republicans Urge Biden to Flip the Switch for More American Energy</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);"><b>03.21.22</b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Energy and Commerce Republicans continue to lead and urge President Joe Biden to<b>&nbsp;flip the switch and boost American energy production to lower costs, create jobs, and strengthen America’s geopolitical power.</b></span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
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</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA): “Energy is foundational to everything we do.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">[…]</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“With an all-the-above strategy, we can again say ‘yes’ to America’s global leadership and lower energy prices. I continue to urge my colleagues across the aisle to work with us.<b>&nbsp;Let’s flip the switch&nbsp;</b>on American energy to ensure a better life and more secure future for all.”</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);"><b>Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA):&nbsp;</b>“President Biden wants to ‘build back better.’ What he doesn’t realize is that, first, we must be able to build. Many otherwise ‘shovel-ready’ infrastructure projects get trapped in bureaucratic gridlock for years.</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“Developers routinely find themselves navigating environmental reviews that require up to over 60 authorizations from as many as 13 different federal agencies.”</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
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</div><div><b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Rep. Larry Bucshon,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">&nbsp;M.D.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">(R-IN):&nbsp;</span></b><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Bucshon specialized in&nbsp;</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiothoracic_surgery" title="Cardiothoracic surgery" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(6, 69, 173); outline: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">cardiothoracic surgery</a><span style="color: rgb(32, 33, 34); font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">&nbsp;and has performed hundreds of heart surgeries</span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“This administration is asking countries like</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Iran and Venezuela&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">to compensate for the&nbsp;<b>ban on Russian imports&nbsp;</b>and ignoring American energy producers.”</span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“I urge the administration to<b>&nbsp;flip the switch</b>&nbsp;and reduce our&nbsp;<b>dependence on foreign energy&nbsp;</b>by increasing production of oil and gas at home. We can do this!”</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
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</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rep. John Joyce,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>M.D</b>.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">(R-PA):</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;“It’s time to return not only to American&nbsp;<b>energy independence, but American energy dominance.</b>&nbsp;It’s time to get to work for the American people.”[~ gridlock aka GOP obstructionism/ polarization]</span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Check out these highlights of Energy and Commerce Republicans exposing what’s behind the pain at the pump in our joint forum with the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Select Climate Committee:</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
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</div><div><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rep. Michael Burgess,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;M.D. (R-TX</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">)</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">: “By the stroke of a pen on his first day in office, President Biden weakened America’s energy independence by rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, killing the Keystone XL pipeline, and unlawfully blocking new energy development on federal lands.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);"><b>Rep. David B. McKinley (R-WV):&nbsp;</b>“The Biden Administration admits the quickest way to lower the price of gas is increasing production. Yet they still prioritize ending the use of fossil fuels over providing relief at the pump for Americans.”</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);"><b>Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL):&nbsp;</b>“We cannot deflect the blame to Russia’s inhumane invasion purely. Gas prices were already skyrocketing thanks to President Biden completely ending fossil fuel projects on day one.”</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div><b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Rep. John Joyce,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">M.D</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">. (R-PA):&nbsp;</span></b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“This energy crisis is one of the most important issues we need to be addressing right now in the House of Representatives. Inflation is surging, gas prices are skyrocketing, and the Biden administration refuses act.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“It’s time for Biden to take the responsibility for what his policies are doing to hardworking American citizens</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">.</span><b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;It’s time for&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Biden to care more about families in Pennsylvania than he does the Green New Deal.</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;It’s time to drill American oil.”</span></b></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Rep. Larry Bucshon,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">M.D</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">. (R-IN): “We have the example in Europe (Germany) of what happens to a country when they get so far ahead and so much more worried about where they’re going on clean energy and they fail to look at the timeline of what’s doable and how that impacts their economy.”</span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA): “I asked my constituents…how are high gas prices impacting you? Here are some are the responses I got.</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“Mark can’t visit his grandkids…Amanda is worried she will have to quit her job in home health because the commute is too expensive.”</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND): “Two days ago, Secretary Granholm was celebrating that she issued two permits…but apparently that wasn’t good enough because yesterday she started talking about gouging.”</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);"><b>Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL):</b>&nbsp;“</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The House Progressive Caucus this week offered ideas to the Biden administration calling on the President to declare a ‘national climate emergency’ and to ban fossil fuel leases. We’ve got the administration bragging about 9,000 permits but you’ve got the progressive caucus calling for a complete ban on fossil fuels.”</span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">SUBCOMMITTEES Energy (117th Congress)</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">ISSUES Energy Infrastructure</div></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
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</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The real way to support Ukraine is to flip the switch ... - The Hill&nbsp; https://thehill.com › congress-blog › energy-environmen</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">t</span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Mar 3, 2022 — One of the best ways for the U.S. to apply pressure while promoting peace is to unleash American energy production.</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">It's Time To Unleash American Energy Independence - The ...https://www.theintelligencer.net › opinion › 2022/04 › i...</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Apr 2, 2022 — At peak capacity, the pipeline would deliver 830,000 barrels of oil per day to American refineries. The president also put a moratorium on new ...</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Missing: #fliptheswitch</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">The Time Is Now for US<b>&nbsp;Energy Independence</b>&nbsp;- Citizens ...https://www.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">cagw</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">.org › thewastewatcher › time-now-us...</span></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Mar 23, 2022 — U.S. energy independence will stabilize and lower fuel prices for ... XL pipeline would not have resulted in the release of oil right now, ...</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);"><b>Members of Alabama's GOP congressional delegation</b>&nbsp;urge ...https://yellowhammernews.com › Politics</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Mar 8, 2022 — President Trump knew the importance of energy independence and made ... It's time to #FlipTheSwitch and unleash American energy production.</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Rob Wittman column: We must unleash American energy ...https://<b>richmond.com › opinion</b>&nbsp;› columnists › rob-wittma...</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">3 days ago — Russia's barbaric and unprovoked attack on Ukraine highlighted and elevated the need for American energy independence — but it did not create ...</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">Missing: #fliptheswitch</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">President Biden's continued assault...&nbsp;<b>- Rep. Larry Bucshon&nbsp;</b>&nbsp;https://www.facebook.com › RepLarryBucshon › videos</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">PREVIEW</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">1:20</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);"><b>President Biden's continued assault on American-made energy has killed jobs, ... Biden to #FlipTheSwitch and unleash American energy ⬇️.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);"><b>Facebook · Rep. Larry Bucshon</b>&nbsp;· Mar 17, 2022</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">The HEAT Report - Republican Whip - Steve Scalise&nbsp; https://www.republicanwhip.gov › news › the-heat-repo...</div><div style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">introduced the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;American Energy Independence From Russia Act,</span>&nbsp;which would immediately approve the Keystone XL pipeline, unleash U.S. LNG exports to boost natural ...</div></span></font></div><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">KINDA ODD MINORITY HAS OWN WEBSITE?</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PRESS RELEASES</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">PRESS RELEASE</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Leader Rodgers: The 1970s are Calling. Socialist Price Controls will Make Energy Crisis Worse.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">05.16.22</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) spoke out at the House Rules Committee today on&nbsp;<b>H.R. 7688, the Socialist Energy Price Fixing Act.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Socialist Energy Price Fixing Act would give President Biden power to declare an energy emergency, arming the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with tools to&nbsp;<b>impose de-facto, arbitrary caps on the price of gas[NOT TRUE BAD FAITH?]</b>. These socialist price controls are not the answer and will lead to even less oil and gas production at a time where we desperately need to increase both</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Excerpts and highlights from her prepared remarks:</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CRISIS AND DISTRACTION</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“America is in crisis. Store shelves are empty. New mothers can’t find formula for their babies. Overdose deaths continue to rise as deadly fentanyl pours across our southern border. Inflation is out of control and gas prices continue to reach record levels.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Yet here we are again in the Rules Committee, rushing through the Democrats’ latest attempt to impose socialist price controls on our economy instead of<b>&nbsp;taking responsibility for their actions.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“We should be doing the hard work of legislating to fix these issues</b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;and to reverse the damage of</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;reckless spending and President Biden’s actions to shut down domestic energy production.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“Time and again, the Democrats’ answer to President Biden’s inflation crisis is&nbsp;</span><b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">more</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;government control</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">, more government spending, and les</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">s freedom.”</span></b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">SOCIALIST PRICE CONTROLS</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“The disastrous consequences these socialist price controls will have are not hypothetical, because we have seen them before.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“Similar policies were used by</span><b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;Soviet Russia, Venezuela, North Korea and other&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Communist dictatorships</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">.</span></b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;They led to massive shortages in goods, which resulted in economic and humanitarian devastation.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The United States even tried to control high gas prices and inflation through price controls in the 1970s. This led to the shortages, rationing, and mile long gas lines many of us remember from the Carter years and made us dangerously reliant on OPEC.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“The 1970s appear to be here again. The Democrats are following the lead of Soviet Russia and Venezuela and failing to learn from our own history.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“It’s a deliberate, irresponsible attempt to distract the American people from their</span><b style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;tax and spend agenda</b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;and the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;Biden administration’s war on American energy</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;that has put us in this position without regard for the devastating consequences their policies will have for the American people.”</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">WAR ON AMERICAN ENERGY</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“Meanwhile, President Biden is continuing full steam ahead with his</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;radical anti-American energy agenda.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“In March 2020, Candidate Joe Biden said quote ‘<b>No more subsidies for fossil fuel industry</b>. No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period.’</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“President Biden put in place a moratorium on new drilling.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“In May 2020, Candidate Joe Biden pledged to stop the<b>&nbsp;Keystone XL pipeline CANADIAN TAR SAND KOCH]</b>, and he did so on Day 1.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Just last week, he canceled lease sales for millions of acres for oil and gas production in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Republicans have been sounding the alarm for over a year about the disastrous affect these policies would have on energy and gas prices and we are seeing the direct result of them today.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“Gas prices have gone up every day of this administration.”</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">FLIP THE SWITCH</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“I am co-leading the American Energy Independence from Russia Act [SPEARHEADED BY BIDEN, GOT THE GERMANS TO KILL NORSTREAM] with Natural Resources Republican Leader Bruce Westerman.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">“To lower prices and&nbsp;</span><b style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">protect our national security</b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">, it</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;flips the switch&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">on American energy and unleashes production.&nbsp;<b>It removes all barriers to U.S. LNG exports</b>&nbsp;and it unlocks America’s energy potential by requiring leasing and permitting of energy and minerals development on Federal lands and waters. It also would immediately approve the Keystone XL pipeline; and&nbsp;<b>force the DOE Secretary to have a plan to increase domestic production before allowing any more non-emergency withdrawals from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.</b></span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Democrats have now blocked this five times. That’s five times they’ve denied increasing our domestic production to lower costs and&nbsp;<b>boost energy exports to help our allies counter Russian aggression.</b></span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);"><b>”</b></span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">SHIFTING BLAME</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Instead of doing what is necessary to meet energy demands, President Biden and Congressional<b>&nbsp;Democrats are trying to shift blame to ‘price gouging’&nbsp;</b>for these record high prices.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“First, the administration tried blaming Putin – they called it the ‘Putin Price Hike.’ But anyone who has been filling up their tanks since last January knows this is not true.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The average gas price when President Biden took office was $2.38 and it climbed over a dollar more a gallon well before the invasion.[COVID, OIL WENT NEGATIVE]</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“The American people are too smart and have not fallen for this. So, the President is now shifting blame to the industry alleging price gouging.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Unless you ask his Energy Secretary who said in an Energy and Commerce hearing quote,&nbsp;<b>‘I’m not sure anyone is saying there is wholesale gouging.’</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“That was just hours after Democrats announced their plans to introduce this legislation before us today.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Regardless of Democrats not keeping their talking points straight, this price gouging conspiracy is nothing new.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“The Federal Trade Commission has investigated price gouging in oil and gas markets on and off for over a hundred years. It has never found systemic price gouging. Instead, they found higher prices are attributable to supply and demand.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Americans are experiencing higher prices for virtually every single good and service, including gasoline.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“This is not because of some grand conspiracy that companies have suddenly decided to charge unaffordable prices. It is because of the Democrats’ out-of-control spending [GOP TAKE CREDIT FOR CARES BILLS THEY OPPOSED?] and regulations that have created an inflation crisis and devastated our supply chains.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“And the Democrats are not stopping with gas prices. Senator Warren and several House Members have just introduced legislation that would impose these price controls over our entire economy.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Under the Democrats’&nbsp;<b>radical socialist agenda</b>, the gas lines of the 1970s and the bread lines of Communist Russia and Venezuela will become reality in the United States of America.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“This is unacceptable and should be unthinkable.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">PROMISE OF AMERICA</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“We’ve done more to<b>&nbsp;lift people out of poverty [SORTA // API TALK PT], raise the standard of living</b>&nbsp;than any nation in the history of the world.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“That is the promise of America.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Free enterprise — not socialism — is the proven and best way to restore prosperity and optimism for the hardworking people of this country again.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“I urge my colleagues to stop this madness, abandon this socialist agenda, and work with us to unleash American energy.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">W</span><b style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); box-sizing: border-box;">ashington, D.C. —</b><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;Energy and Commerce Committee Republican</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Leader</span><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;[?] Cathy McMorris Rodgers</span></b><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03);">&nbsp;(R-WA) delivered remarks in today’s Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change hearing with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan.</span></span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Excerpts and highlights from her prepared remarks:</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">THE EPA’S CRITICAL ROLE</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">“Welcome back to the Energy and Commerce Committee</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">, Administrator Regan.</span></font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Your annual testimony on the President’s proposed EPA budget is an important chance to examine your priorities and your agency’s performance.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“EPA serves a critical role in our nation’s efforts to protect the environment and public health.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This role includes standard setting, regulatory science and risk assessments, and large amounts of technical and financial assistance for states, tribal communities, and localities.”</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">CELEBRATING SUCCESS FOR A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“As you well know, although you do not acknowledge it in your written testimony, EPA today is operating against a backdrop of a tremendous record of environmental improvements.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">“A review released last month by the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies noted that for the past twenty years the public has perceived the nation’s environment as getting worse.</span></font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Yet across the board, the opposite is the case.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Air quality, for example, has been steadily improving – ozone, NOx, particulate matter concentrations are fractions of the levels 40 years</span><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">&nbsp;ago.</span></font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“And the trend has continued over the past decade – including in states with heavy industrial and economic activity.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“These positive results extend to land, water, and air toxics.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“You should celebrate and promote these results, Mr. Administrator, and do your part to explain how and why this has happened.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“And you should talk about the challenges ahead, as tighter requirements run up against technological and economic limits.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Continuous tightening of the screws, especially when standards are not technologically feasible risks broader economic harms to the very people you are seeking to h</span><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">elp.”</span></font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S REGULATORY&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">OVERREACH</span><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">&nbsp;AND BUDGET</span></font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">“I worry that this administration’s</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;radical climate agenda, will distract EPA from the hard work to ensure existing standards are implemented</span><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">, and existing programs can succeed.</span></font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We’ve seen what can happen.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The Obama administration issued controversial, damaging rules that threatened to cut opportunity for people in struggling communities as jobs left regions.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Look at the Clean Power Plan rule which sought to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“EPA overreached with that regulation, which threatened American jobs and the economy. A legal challenge to that regulation is pending before the Supreme Court right now.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Senator Capito and I led a<b>&nbsp;bicameral amicus brief&nbsp;</b>in that case, focused on the&nbsp;<b>need to stop federal agencies from going beyond their statutory authorities&nbsp;</b>and ignoring Congressional intent.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Because of President Biden’s inflation crisis, families and retirees today are paying more for less, from the gas pump to the grocery store.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This calls for&nbsp;<b>responsible federal budgets [TRUMP VOODOO TAX CUT CORP OLIG GIVEAWAY]</b>&nbsp;that focus on core missions, and effective management—the ingredients for accountability and success.”</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The EPA fiscal year 2023 budget request is nearly $12 billion. This amount is $681 million more than the request from last fiscal year [TRUMP CUTS?] , and that was a more than 20 percent increase.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“States are tasked with enforcing most of EPA’s regulatory requirements;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">&nbsp;but, this budget request calls for growing EPA’s workforce by 10 percent compared to current levels.</span></font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“You testified to the House Appropriations Committee recently that EPA is not ‘inflating itself’ because ‘a majority’ of EPA’s budget goes to the States.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“But not even 50 percent of your requested budget would go to the States.”</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WINNING THE FUTURE</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I hope you will agree with me that we need to return to building – not dismantling –&nbsp;the American economy [RECORD REBOUND FROM TRUMP COVID FAIL RECESSION, LOWEST UNEMPL IN 40 YRS?].</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“I’m concerned about actions at the EPA to destroy next-generation technologie</span><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">s by having&nbsp;<b>premarket chemical reviews [VS PRECAUT WHICH WE DO NOT HAVE? TRUMP SAB]&nbsp;</b>collect dust on the desks of Federal bureaucrats. I’m concerned how EPA is&nbsp;<b>creating uncertainty,</b>&nbsp;including delays or cancellations, in our permitting processes; and</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;expanding regulations further, like the coal ash rule, WOTUS, and the cross-state air pollution rule.</span></font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">“These are actions that ultimately</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;drive projects out of America and make us more reliant on countries like China&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">with the lowest environmental and labor standards.</span></font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="auto" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Projects taking years to develop, and money lost due to abrupt policy changes have a chilling impact on peoples’ willingness and ability to make things in America.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">“To succeed, EPA must not be an obstacle to development and p</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">rosperity for American families, especially as they struggle to afford everyday life because of the administration’s energy and inflation crisis.”</span></font></b></p><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; margin: 25px 0px 15px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(203, 186, 151); width: 749.99px; max-width: 100%;" /><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="h5 inline" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.1; margin-top: 0.5rem; margin-bottom: 0.5rem; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.11em; display: inline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SUBCOMMITTEES</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div>&nbsp;<a href="https://republicans-energycommerce.house.gov/subcommittee/environment-and-climate-change-117th-congress/" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; transition: all 225ms ease 0s; text-decoration-line: none !important; outline: none !important;">Environment and Climate Change (117th Congress)</a></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">JURISDICTION</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All matters related to soil, air, noise and water contamination; emergency environmental response, both physical and cybersecurity. In particular, the subcommittee has jurisdiction over The Nuclear Waste Policy Act, The Clean Air Act, The Safe Drinking Water Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act – including Superfund and the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, The Solid Waste Disposal Act, The Toxic Substance Control Act and The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program. Under the Clean Air Act, this subcommittee deals with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for criteria pollutants; National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) Standards; New Source Performance Standards (NSPS); Mobile Source Standards for vehicles, aircraft, fuels and fuel additives, including the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. The subcommittee focuses on the regulation of solid, hazardous, and nuclear wastes, including mining, nuclear, oil, gas, and coal combustion waste.</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MEMBERSHIP</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>West Virginia&nbsp;</b>- 01</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DAVID MCKINLEY</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republican Leader</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>New York - 20&nbsp; climatehawk democrat</b></font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">PAUL TONKO</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Chairman</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">REPUBLICAN MEMBERS</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ohio - 06 BILL JOHNSON</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oklahoma - 02 MARKWAYNE MULLIN</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">North Carolina - 08 RICHARD HUDSON</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Georgia - 01 BUDDY CARTER</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">South Carolina - 03 JEFF DUNCAN</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Alabama - 6 GARY PALMER</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Utah - 3 JOHN CURTIS</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Texas - 2 DAN CRENSHAW</font></b></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Washington - 05 CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS</font></div><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ex officio</font></span></div></div><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></p><p style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.03); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box;">Washington, D.C. —</b><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">&nbsp;In the Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee hearing today, Subcommittee Republican&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Leader</b>&nbsp;David B. McKinley (R-WV</span><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">) delivered the following opening remarks during a hearing with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan.</span></span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Excerpts and highlights from his prepared remarks:</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WORST FEARS NEW BEING REALIZED</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">“Our worst fears are now being realized. Pursuing an</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;ideologically driven goal of 100% renewables i</span><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">n such a condensed time frame</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;will cause the grid to collapse. [PERRY AEA IER BS]</span></font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Last summer, the head of global research at General Electric in New York told Subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko and me unequivocally that this would happen.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“And now, according to the Wall Street Journal, warnings of electricity shortages are growing across the United States.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“In the Midwest, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator is working to prepare for ‘worst case scenarios’ and expect a 5 gigawatt&nbsp;shortfall this summer.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“And just last Friday, Texas had to take steps to reduce strain on the grid. Nearly 3 gigawatt&nbsp;of capacity have gone offline because of high temperatures.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Even California had to&nbsp;<b>extend</b>&nbsp;[? ]the operation of its gas-fired power plants last year.”</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RENEWABLES AREN’T RELIABLE TO POWER OUR GRID</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“So, what is the EPA doing to preserve and protect our grid?</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It seems like President Biden and the EPA are increasing regulations, rather than addressing the pending crisis we’re facing.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Rather than ensure a reliable and resilient grid and keep the lights on across the country<b>, the EPA is requesting almost $12 billion to pursue its climate change and environmental justice initiatives.[BI-PART INFRA bbb?]</b></font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Look, with today’s science, renewables simply aren’t ready to fully power our grid.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“According to the Energy Information Administration, wind only works 35% of the time and solar only 25% of the time.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“And the Lawrence Livermore Lab found 81% of wind projects and 84% of solar projects do not reach commercial operations.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“So why does this EPA continue to pursue an agenda that will only take more fossil fuel capacity offline?”</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">EPA ISN’T BEING COOPERATIVE</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Mr. Chairman, the threat of electricity shortages has utilities taking steps to keep aging power plants running longer, but they’re fighting regulations. EPA is not being cooperative.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“And Congress has made significant investments over the last two years in carbon capture, like coal first, and carbon dioxide pipelines.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><span data-contrast="none" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“These investments will let us preserve our fossil fuels and protect our grid.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“But EPA’s agenda doesn’t recognize that. You seem to want to fund more climate change and environmental justice programs.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 30px; box-sizing: border-box;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">“Neither of which will lead to grid</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;liability [SIC HEH] ,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);">&nbsp;only blackouts across the nation.”</span></font></b></p><div class="misc-relationship-box" style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px 0px; line-height: 1.28;"><hr style="box-sizing: content-box; height: 0px; margin: 25px 0px 15px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(203, 186, 151); width: 749.99px; max-width: 100%;" /><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="h5 inline" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.1; margin-top: 0.5rem; margin-bottom: 0.5rem; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0.11em; display: inline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SUBCOMMITTEES</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div>&nbsp;<a href="https://republicans-energycommerce.house.gov/subcommittee/environment-and-climate-change-117th-congress/" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; transition: all 225ms ease 0s; text-decoration-line: none !important; outline: none !important;">Environment and Climate Change (117th Congress)</a></div></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><a href="https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/blog/us-utility-commissioners-a-key-factor-in-assessing-regulatory-risk" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/blog/us-utility-commissioners-a-key-factor-in-assessing-regulatory-risk</font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">omg</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.6; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; letter-spacing: -0.45px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>&nbsp;electric utility trade group with ties to top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials will dissolve amid a congressional probe into whether the group inappropriately influenced Trump administration air and climate policy.</b></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.6; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; letter-spacing: -0.45px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Utility Air Regulatory Group — one of the foremost legal challengers to Clean Air Act regulations over the last four decades — said in a May 10 statement that its membership will disband after a "wind down period," citing "substantial changes in the electricity sector."</b></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.6; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; letter-spacing: -0.45px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The announcement comes after the&nbsp;<b>House Energy and Commerce Committee</b>&nbsp;in April launched an investigation focused on whether EPA Office of Air and Radiation Administrator Bill Wehrum and Senior Counsel David Harlow, who formerly represented UARG as attorneys, violated federal ethics rules by working to reverse the EPA's position in ongoing Clean Air Act-related litigation.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.6; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; letter-spacing: -0.45px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Run out of the law firm of&nbsp;<b>Hunton&nbsp;</b>Andrews and Kurth, UARG came under increased scrutiny when the news outlet&nbsp;<i style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: inherit;">Politico</i>&nbsp;published documents in February showing that a coalition of coal-heavy utilities agreed to pay Wehrum's old firm $8.2 million in 2017.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.6; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; letter-spacing: -0.45px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That same month, Rep. Frank<b>&nbsp;Pallone, D-N.J., and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.</b>, asked the EPA's inspector general to investigate whether Wehrum or Harlow were&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">improperly&nbsp;</span>involved in drafting a December 2017 EPA guidance memo revising the agency's interpretation of a Clean Air Act permitting program that can trigger the need to install costly pollution controls.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.6; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; letter-spacing: -0.45px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As part of its investigation, the House committee requested copies of all communications between the law firm and current EPA officials, as well as past communications Wehrum and Harlow had with the EPA during their tenure at Hunton. The requests also cited a 2016 report by S&P Global Market Intelligence detailing how power companies have wielded influence anonymously through the group for years.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.6; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; letter-spacing: -0.45px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In addition, the committee asked eight different utilities — Ameren Corp., American Electric Power Co. Inc., First Energy, Southern Co., the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. and Vistra Energy Corp. — to disclose whether they used ratepayer funds to pay UARG dues. Some of those utilities have acknowledged doing so, while companies that quit the group prior to the&nbsp;<i style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: inherit;">Politico</i>&nbsp;report and congressional investigation have stressed the group is no longer needed due to a marketwide shift away from coal-fired generation.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.6; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; letter-spacing: -0.45px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A Hunton spokesman said in a May 10 email the firm "is proud" to have represented UARG members in the federal rulemaking process over the past 40 years. "Hunton will continue to assist its clients in this valuable process," the firm said.</b></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.6; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; letter-spacing: -0.45px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">House Democrats said they were glad to see UARG break up, but they warned the committee's oversight will continue. "Our committee's investigation is not over," said Pallone, Rep. Paul Tonko, D-N.Y., and Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo.,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254);">&nbsp;in a statement. "Important questions remain about whether EPA officials William Wehrum and David Harlow continue to advance their former coal industry clients' agenda at EPA, and we intend to see those questions through."</span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(254, 254, 254); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.6; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; letter-spacing: -0.45px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The EPA did not immediately respond to request for comment May 10.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></p>