WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor on Thursday regarding left-wing climate policy:
“Last week, the Biden Administration followed through on a devastating threat to some of the most abundant and reliable energy made here in America – and to those who rely on it around the world.
“The Administration’s de facto ban on new liquefied natural gas export permits is the sort of policy so profoundly damaging that it could only have been dreamt up by the left-wing activists who are increasingly calling the shots on President Biden’s energy policies.
“As I’ve mentioned before, this de facto ban is harmful to American interests both at home and abroad.
“Cancelled export permits mean cancelled projects and cancelled jobs. Bans on exploring and exporting American energy mean working families pay higher prices for gasoline, home heating, and countless other every day expenses.
“Since President Biden took office, the cost of gasoline has increased a cumulative 35%. Fuel oil prices have increased 61%, Natural gas has increased 27%, and electricity prices have increased 25%.
“But the costs of the Administration’s green bent aren’t confined to our own borders. For the past two years, allies who once relied on Russian energy have started consuming more clean American LNG.
“A recent editorial put it, ‘If new U.S. LNG projects are blocked, Europe and Asia will have to import gas from elsewhere to meet their growing demand. Most won’t come from America’s friends.’
“Iran and Russia are both increasing their LNG production capabilities, ready to meet desperate demand when American export capacity no longer can.
“Meanwhile, the same radical activists who drove a stake through the Keystone XL pipeline are gleefully declaring victory in their campaign to make America and our allies more reliant on dirty energy from our adversaries.
“And President Biden, in keeping with his Administration’s practice of rewarding bad behavior with more responsibility, put one of the masterminds of his climate policy up for a promotion at the EPA.
“Yesterday, Senate Democrats overran bipartisan opposition to confirm Joseph Goffman’s nomination as Assistant Administrator.
“As I’ve said before, Mr. Goffman has encouraged the EPA’s worst regulatory excesses, and put activist whims over American workers and job creators. By some estimates he’s presided over the elimination of half the nation’s coal jobs.
“And unfortunately, the radical climate agenda he’s helping to steer shows no signs of slowing down.”