[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 28, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1272-S1273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Energy Infrastructure

  Mr. President, I would like to speak about energy infrastructure. 
President Trump has shown that he intends to be a champion for 
upgrading our country's aging highways, bridges, and water 
infrastructure. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and 
Public Works, I will be working with President Trump to modernize our 
infrastructure. This includes working to upgrade America's energy 
infrastructure, things such as electric transmission lines and natural 
gas pipelines. These facilities need to be repaired and modernized, and 
we need to build new facilities as well.
  Often, these investments can be made without any taxpayer funding. 
People get the benefit of new jobs, economic growth, and the affordable 
and reliable energy that these projects supply. It is good for 
everybody, including the taxpayers. We just need to make sure the 
government doesn't get in the way.
  Recently, there was an important reminder of the need for energy 
infrastructure development. It was that blast of cold weather and heavy 
snow that hit the Northeast part of the country earlier this year. 
Normally, natural gas accounts for about 48 percent of the power 
generated in New England. During this big winter storm in January, gas 
accounted for only 16 percent. That is because there aren't enough 
natural gas pipelines in the region to deliver all of the gas they 
needed for heating and for power. This shouldn't happen in America, 
where we are the No. 1 natural gas producer in the world.
  To meet the demand in New England, powerplants and utilities have had 
to take the drastic step of importing liquefied natural gas from 
Russia. Can you imagine such a thing? This is a tanker, and it carried 
gas from a Russian company called Yamal LNG--liquefied natural gas. The 
gas came from a facility in Siberia, and they were taking it right into 
the Boston Harbor last month. This is the location of the Boston Tea 
Party, and we are bringing in Russian LNG.
  You might think that local leaders in the region would want to avoid 
importing gas from our adversaries, like Russia. You might think they 
would want more American pipelines to power our communities. That is 
not what is happening in the Northeast part of this

[[Page S1273]]

country. Instead, leaders in that region have been vocal opponents of 
new pipelines. They blocked the pipelines.
  People who have been vocal opponents of the new pipelines include 
some of the Democrats who represent that part of the country right here 
in the Senate. They refused to allow responsible and safe energy 
development to give people in the Northeast the natural gas the 
families and businesses need. These Democrats claim they are protecting 
the environment. That is simply not true.
  There was a headline in the Boston Globe a couple of weeks ago. The 
headline was ``Our Russian pipeline, and its ugly toll.'' That was in 
the Boston Globe. The article pointed out that Russia actually has much 
lower standards than the United States when it comes to protecting the 
environment. Democrats are just playing the old game of ``not in my 
backyard.'' We see the same thing so often when it comes to energy 
infrastructure projects.
  We should be looking for ways to make energy as clean as we can, as 
fast as we can, without raising costs for American families. When it 
comes to actually producing the energy, Democrats put up roadblocks to 
keep it from happening.
  If we are going to build America's infrastructure, we need to 
streamline the process, and we need to start cutting the redtape. We 
need to build faster, better, cheaper, and smarter. It is true for 
roads and bridges and also true for our energy infrastructure.
  Let me conclude by telling you that this article in the Boston Globe 
called on leaders in the Northeast to stop prioritizing short-term 
political gains at the expense of energy security and the environment. 
I urge my colleagues in the Senate to do the same. We should be talking 
about not just energy security and energy independence and not being 
dependent on foreign sources of energy from our enemies but focus on 
American energy, U.S. energy, and American jobs. We certainly shouldn't 
put America in a position of being dependent on Russia or others to 
heat our homes and power our economy. We should all support responsible 
energy infrastructure development so American communities can run on 
American energy.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.
  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Wyoming for his 
remarks on American energy and American energy independence, 
particularly the work we have done in Wyoming and Colorado. When you 
think about the opportunities we have to free up markets for Colorado 
and Wyoming produced oil or gas, it is truly remarkable.
  The Senator and I also share the great work that takes place at F.E. 
Warren Air Force Base. F.E. Warren Air Force Base has a significant 
role to play in the nuclear triad, with facilities in both Colorado and 
Wyoming. That is obviously something very important to our national 
security.
  One of the other things I think is important to bring to this 
conversation that the Senator from Wyoming talked about is the national 
security component that energy can play and the important role that it 
has. We can export our energy not just to the Midwest or to the eastern 
parts of this country, but we can take that gas produced in Wyoming and 
Colorado and export it to Asia and Europe, to countries that want 
American energy, that desire American energy resources, not energy 
resources from tyrants and dictators like Russia and other places we 
see around the globe.
  This is an opportunity for us to really show, and I commend my 
colleague for his leadership on energy.