[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 51 (Wednesday, March 28, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        ALL-OF-THE-ABOVE ENERGY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Georgia (Mr. Westmoreland) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, all-of-the-above energy. It's a plan 
first introduced by House Republicans when gas prices spiked during the 
summer of 2008. For the 2 years prior, congressional Democrats were 
following a green energy plan only, doing their best to completely 
eliminate the traditional forms of energy like petroleum, natural gas, 
and coal that account for 83 percent of our energy consumption.
  When President Obama took office in 2009, he took up their flag and 
began pushing for his controversial cap-and-trade law that even he 
admitted would mean electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. He 
appointed an Energy Secretary that admitted on national TV that he 
wanted our gas prices at European levels. Well, they're both on their 
way. Since then, energy costs have doubled, gas prices have 
skyrocketed, and we are in a crisis in this country when it comes to 
our energy use.
  Just as we saw in the summer of 2008, when these gasoline prices 
spiked and our energy costs rose, the price of everything else is soon 
to follow. When his cap-and-trade bill failed to get enough support in 
a Democratic-controlled Congress, he set out to have the EPA basically 
regulate the bill into law.
  Over the last 3 years, the EPA has issued some of the most costly 
regulations on power plants in their history. By 2016, the Utility MACT 
regulation is expected to cost $9.6 billion annually in direct costs, 
and some analysts estimate its total indirect costs closer to $100 
billion. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is expected to impact over 
1,000 power plants across the country, and, by the EPA's own estimates, 
it's estimated to cost $2.8 billion annually.
  With no business experience in this administration, I don't think 
they realize that when the cost of doing business goes up, business 
prices go up; and that affects every hardworking American taxpayer at 
the pump. When he turns on a light at home, when he buys a loaf of 
bread, when he goes to buy a U.S.-manufactured product, it costs.
  According to the President's own Commerce Department, the Boiler MACT 
regulation in itself is expected to cost between 40,000 and 60,000 
jobs. The impact of these regulations is already being felt. Last 
month, two utility companies announced the closing of 10 of their power 
plants as a direct result of some of the strict new regulations--
another move that will raise the price of electricity for consumers.
  Yet it seemed as though the President had finally come around when he 
said in his State of the Union speech earlier this year, right here in 
this room: This country needs an all-out all-of-the-above energy 
strategy that develops every available resource of American energy.
  It's not often that I agree with the President, but at that point I 
did.
  Unfortunately, the President hasn't stayed true to his words. In 
fact, just yesterday the EPA announced their latest set of regulations 
that will effectively ban the building of any new coal-fired power 
plants by dramatically decreasing carbon dioxide emissions.
  Whether the President and environmentalists like it or not, coal 
currently accounts for almost half of the electricity generated in this 
country. Effectively eliminating coal-fired power plants is only going 
to increase the cost of electricity to American families.
  We can no longer allow the White House to say one thing and do 
another when it comes to energy. If the President truly supports the 
Republican all-of-the-above energy strategy as he claimed he did, then 
he needs to follow through.
  It's time we start to take advantage of all of the God-given natural 
resources this country has and to have American-made energy, American-
made power that will power this Nation.

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