[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 23, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7229-H7234]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SUPPORT INCREASED DOMESTIC ENERGY PRODUCTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, we are here tonight, as the House Energy 
Action Team, to discuss the numerous economic, national security, and 
environmental benefits of the American energy renaissance.
  The HEAT team will never be supportive of policies that increase 
electricity prices for consumers, favor foreign-based production over 
domestic, and deter the development and construction of energy 
infrastructure.
  Due to policies that incentivize private investment and production, 
the United States has become the global leader in natural gas and oil 
producing, as well as refining. This has given us the ability to export 
energy to our friends, allies, and countries that want to import U.S. 
energy.
  Energy Secretary Rick Perry recently said, ``The United States is not 
just exporting energy. We are exporting freedom.'' I couldn't agree 
more.
  There is no national security without energy security. We understand 
that in the House Energy Action Team.
  Looking at this graph, in 2018, U.S. crude oil production exceeded 11 
million barrels per day, surpassing Russia as the world's largest crude 
oil producer. The U.S. produced 12.16 million barrels per day of crude 
in April 2019.
  I was just out in North Dakota, in the Bakken. I am amazed at the 
production going on in that little corner of the world. I say 
``little,'' but the Bakken is huge. It is a tremendous resource for the 
Nation.
  In fact, we are producing more oil and natural gas in the Bakken in 
North Dakota and Montana than they are in the country of Venezuela, 
which is known for its natural resources, known for its oil production. 
They are producing more in the Bakken.
  Robust domestic energy production is essential to global leadership 
in the United States. According to the U.S. Energy Information 
Institute, natural gas and oil supplied about two-thirds of American 
energy used in 2016.
  Oil and gas will continue to be a prominent source of energy. The 
Energy Information Institute estimates that fossil fuels will account 
for nearly 70 percent of the country's energy used by 2050.
  The goal should be to produce, develop, or make fossil fuels 
available cleaner through private sector innovation, not regulation. 
That should be the goal, private sector innovation, not the heavy boot 
of government telling the innovators what they should or should not do. 
The innovators are actually making things cleaner. We are producing a 
lot, and we are exporting a lot.
  One thing I applaud President Trump for doing is challenging 
Chancellor Merkel and Germany to lessen their dependence on a foreign 
source of energy, in this case, not the Arab states, Saudi Arabia, or 
others, but lessen their dependence on Russia. A lot of Europe, Eastern 
Europe and Western Europe, get their energy from Russia, Gazprom and 
Rosneft, which support Vladimir Putin.
  By lessening Europe's dependence on Russia for their energy, Russia 
is no longer an influencer. It can't turn the spigot on and off to 
influence political policy in Europe.
  Europe still has to meet its energy needs. It can do that looking 
west to the United States through our export of LNG, liquefied natural 
gas put on ships, sent to Europe, and off-loaded to provide the natural 
gas and energy security for our friends and allies overseas to lessen 
their dependence on Russia.

  Exports of U.S. LNG are set to rise 72 percent this year, as compared 
to 2018. Russia is just a gas station masquerading as a country, but 
they are providing that natural gas to Europe. They use their levers of 
influence, turning that spigot on and off to affect policy not only in 
Eastern Europe but in Western Europe. Those policies and those 
pipelines continue to be built to provide that natural gas.
  We need to provide that from this country. We have an abundance. We 
have an abundance of oil, too. We are now an exporter of oil.
  If we look at what the U.S. energy sector has been able to do during 
this American energy renaissance, it will show that we are a leader in 
energy production and energy technology. We can help other countries 
around the globe to meet their energy needs with our technology as 
well.
  Madam Speaker, we have a great group of House Energy Action Team 
members who want to talk about what is going on, maybe in their States, 
maybe things they know about in this Nation. I know Rick Allen wants to 
talk about nuclear power and what is going on in Georgia. I know Bruce 
Westerman wants to talk about what is going on in Arkansas. We have so 
many others.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) 
to talk about what is going on in his part of the world.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman, my friend from 
South Carolina (Mr. Duncan), for yielding.
  Madam Speaker, I want us to take a moment to reflect tonight, reflect 
where our country has been and where our country is going. I think 
about my grandparents who grew up in a home that didn't even have 
electricity, didn't have running water. Even my parents were young when 
they got electricity in their home.
  Madam Speaker, it was just 150 years ago when the main source of 
energy in this country was wood fuel. We have come a long way in this 
country. We have seen a better way of life. We have seen nicer things 
because of the technology and innovation that we have had in this 
country.
  Our energy policy should be the same energy policy that got us to 
where we are today because we have a bright future ahead. That energy 
policy is simply to provide the cleanest energy possible for the lowest 
cost possible.
  We shouldn't discriminate against energy sources. Energy is energy. 
It is carbon atoms. It is hydrogen. It is the energy that we have that 
we convert to things like electrical energy. Just because one energy is 
viewed as dirtier than another energy doesn't mean that, someday, that 
energy can't be clean energy.
  If we look at recent developments, it wasn't long ago that natural 
gas was an expensive form of energy. It wasn't in abundant supply. 
Through technology, we have been able to release vast amounts of 
natural gas across our country.
  As a matter of fact, we are seeing a lot of coal plants converted to 
natural gas, not because of regulatory requirements but because of the 
economic benefits of burning natural gas, clean natural gas. We know 
the control technologies to get very high combustion rates and also the 
ability to capture the NOX, or nitrous oxides, that are 
released from burning natural gas.
  It wasn't that long ago that we didn't think we had enough natural 
gas. Because of great technology, we can experience an environment here 
in the United States where our carbon emissions are actually dropping.
  We shouldn't punish one energy source over another energy source. We 
should strive to use technology to make energy as low-cost and as clean 
as possible.
  We can do this, whether it is renewables, solar, wind, biomass. All 
of those are valid sources of energy that we can, hopefully, learn how 
to capture, to distribute in a manner that people can enjoy all across 
the country in a way that gives consumers reliable supplies at a low 
cost.
  With this, we will see our economy continue to grow. We will see our 
quality of life improve. It is really not something that should be 
partisan or that we should argue about, simply to provide energy at a 
low cost.

[[Page H7230]]

  Let's look at transportation fuel. Some are in favor of doing away 
with all fossil fuels in transportation. What would that do to our 
environment?
  If we look at global emissions across the world, the United States is 
responsible for 15 percent of carbon emissions throughout the world. If 
we look at that a little bit closer and break it down on transportation 
fuels, transportation fuels account for 27 percent of carbon emissions 
in the United States. Twenty-seven percent of 15 percent is only about 
4 percent.
  If we did away with all gasoline, all diesel fuels, got rid of all 
combustion engines, if we did away with jet fuel, with ships, if we 
took fossil fuels out of every form of transportation in the United 
States, it would wreak havoc on our economy. It would wreak havoc on 
our way of life. But it would reduce global carbon emissions only by 
around 4 percent.

  There is a better, smarter way to do that. Let's take the abundant 
energy that we have. Let's apply our wonderful research facilities, the 
great minds and innovators that we have in America. We can figure out 
how to use all of our energy sources in a low-cost, clean way. We can 
all continue to experience a brighter future ahead.
  I thank my colleague for hosting this time tonight where we can, 
hopefully, get some of the facts and common sense about energy out on 
the table.
  Just remember, as low-cost and as clean as possible, that is a 
winning formula for American energy.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. 
Westerman). He was out in North Dakota with me. One thing we saw with 
natural gas and oil being produced out there, and the understanding of 
a need for infrastructure in this country, gas utilities the United 
States added over 730,000 miles of pipeline to serve almost 220 million 
more customers.
  At the same time, methane emissions have fallen 70 percent, 75 
percent, and CO2 emissions from U.S. power systems are at 
their lowest level since 1985. Pipelines are the safest way to 
transport natural gas, but some parts of the country refuse to accept 
this reality.
  For example, New England has moratoriums on natural gas extraction, 
and the inability to construct a pipeline caused an increase in 
electricity prices. These policies are just asinine and need to change.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Kevin 
Hern), a freshman Member of Congress and a leader on the House Energy 
Action Team. We will hear about what is going on in his great State of 
Oklahoma.

                              {time}  2030

  Mr. KEVIN HERN of Oklahoma. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my 
colleague for yielding me a few minutes here to talk about the energy 
dominance in our country, and tonight we are celebrating American 
excellence and innovation in a field absolutely essential to the future 
of our country: energy.
  There is a lot to be debated and argued on, but the crux of the 
matter is that energy independence--better yet, energy dominance--is 
the only pathway to a stable, fruitful, successful American economy.
  We use energy every day. We power our homes, our offices, our cars, 
our phones, and our devices. All of this uses energy in a different 
way. Since energy is such a pervasive need in our society, it should be 
a top priority in Congress.
  Completely cutting our energy sources like clean coal, which we have 
relied on for centuries, is simply not the answer. Making drastic, 
astronomical changes to our economy and way of life are simply not 
feasible, let alone rational.
  My district is home to the oil and gas sector. One in five jobs in 
Oklahoma are supported by the oil and natural gas industry. Every new 
direct oil and gas job supports more than two additional jobs 
statewide. The average Oklahoma oil and natural gas worker makes more 
than $94,000 per year.
  Not only is Oklahoma's energy sector a major job creator and economic 
stimulator, but it is also a nationwide leader in oil production and 
innovation in the industry.
  In 2017, Oklahoma was the Nation's sixth largest crude oil producing 
State. As of last year, we had five operable petroleum refineries with 
a combined daily processing capacity of over half a million barrels per 
day, accounting for almost 3 percent of the U.S. total. More than a 
dozen of the country's 100 largest gas fields are located in Oklahoma.
  These are things to be celebrated, not criticized. If you were to 
listen to some of our colleagues across the aisle, you would think oil 
and gas are the enemy. That is not the case at all. Oil and gas are the 
foundation to build on.
  Renewable energy like wind and solar are great, and I agree that we 
need to continue investing in them and researching how to improve them, 
but they are not a replacement for oil and gas. The future of energy in 
our country is dependent on an all-of-the-above approach. All of these 
energy sources can and should work together to make America successful 
and energy dominant on the world stage.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues on HEAT this year to 
find out energy solutions that play to our country's strengths as well 
as incorporate the innovation that new technologies provide.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I tell you, in Oklahoma, they know energy. 
I think one of the first wells ever drilled in the United States of 
America was over in Oklahoma. And another place they know a lot about 
energy is down on the Gulf Coast in my adopted State of Louisiana.
  The gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves) knows energy, and they have 
got a lot going on in The Pelican State. I yield to the gentleman from 
Louisiana.
  Mr. GRAVES of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from 
South Carolina for hosting this event tonight.
  Madam Speaker, this is really important because it impacts every 
single American. Energy is one of those pervasive issues that, if you 
drive a car, if you ride in a taxi, if you take public transit, if you 
have a house or you have an apartment, you have to pay the energy 
bills. It affects every single one of us.
  Madam Speaker, we have options before us. We can choose to go down 
this path of ignoring the energy abundance that the United States has; 
we can pivot in this direction of blindly seeking these lofty goals or 
ambitions without any technological basis, without any basis in 
infrastructure or reality; or we can move in a direction where we can 
produce American energy, and we can produce it safely and we can 
produce it affordably.
  Madam Speaker, let's go down the paths of what these options look 
like.
  If you look back in 2011, Madam Speaker, one half of this Nation's 
trade deficit, one half of it was attributable to us importing energy 
from other countries--one half. That means that we are sending hundreds 
of billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of jobs, we are sending 
them, we are empowering them in countries like Iran, in countries like 
Venezuela and other Middle Eastern and African nations in many cases, 
Madam Speaker, that don't share our values. They are taking those 
dollars and coming back and directly challenging American interests 
around the globe.
  This doesn't make sense. You don't arm those who wish harm upon you. 
But that is what our energy policy was back in 2011. Again, one half of 
this Nation's trade deficit attributable to us importing energy.
  Now, more recently, Madam Speaker, you have seen folks who have come 
in and said: Hey, we want to migrate to no fossil fuels whatsoever.
  Think about it. If you were running a business and if your greatest 
asset was this abundance of American natural gas, of oil, of coal, 
think about if that is what your asset was and if you had this 
objective of achieving environmental sensitivities or this objective of 
reducing our emissions and providing more clean energy solutions, would 
you just go and say: Look, we are just going to ignore all these 
resources?
  No. You would develop technologies on carbon capture and storage, on 
utilization to where you could take that resource and you could 
actually market it and make products from it or you could sequester it. 
That way you can continue to have a robust economy; you can continue to 
have affordable energy; you can continue to have American jobs without 
harming our economy.

[[Page H7231]]

  Now, Madam Speaker, when you look at the option that some have chosen 
where they have chosen we are going on an aggressive renewable 
strategy, let's look at the State of California where you have double 
or triple the cost of electricity as you have in my home State of 
Louisiana--double or triple.

  On top of that, Madam Speaker, look at what the State of California 
has done. They have increased--increased--imports of oil from countries 
like Saudi Arabia and others, increased their dependence upon foreign 
energy, exporting jobs, exporting untold dollars to these other 
economies. It is fascinating.
  Let's go over to the Northeast, where, recently, you have seen them 
object to transmission sitings, object to natural gas pipelines. Madam 
Speaker, what they have done there, in doing so, they had to burn 
heating oil to warm the homes in the winter, one of the least efficient 
means of emissions. They had to import gas from Russia--from Russia--
putting who knows how many dollars in Vladimir Putin's hands to 
challenge U.S. interests around the globe.
  Madam Speaker, these strategies are flawed. By rejecting some of 
these policies of the past, by pursuing the U.S. energy dominance 
agenda, we have been able to reduce emissions in the United States more 
than the next 12 countries combined, while continuing to have a robust 
economy, some of the lowest unemployment rates we have seen in decades, 
and ensuring that the United States can export energy like we are doing 
with liquified natural gas right now to 35 countries, rather than being 
dependent upon those other nations.
  We have two choices, Madam Speaker. I urge American energy dominance.
  I want to thank, again, the gentleman from South Carolina for 
yielding.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his comments.
  Natural gas is being produced in this country in a tremendous amount, 
so much so, that we can export it anywhere in the world. But those on 
the other side are refusing to accept the reality of the benefits of 
natural gas. In fact, Berkeley, California, is the first American city 
to ban natural gas from being used in new homes and businesses, being 
banned from being used in new homes and businesses to heat and cook in 
their homes, probably banning transportation fuels, as well.
  Natural gas is affordable for so many Americans, and I can tell you 
what. When Americans go to the pump, they are conscientious about the 
price because the money they put in that tank could be the difference 
in discretionary income they could use for other things.
  When you help keep energy prices down, not only transportation fuels, 
but energy prices through the electricity generation in this country--
folks over in Georgia understand electrical generation. In fact, they 
are building the Nation's only nuclear power plant over in Augusta, 
Georgia.
  I yield to the gentleman from Savannah, Georgia, to talk a little bit 
about that.
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding, and I thank the gentleman for hosting this here tonight.
  This is extremely important, and the House Energy Action Team and the 
Members who have spoken here and the Members who will continue to speak 
play an important role in making sure that we get this message out, 
because, Madam Speaker, I am here to join my colleagues in discussing 
America's energy resurgence and to bring to light the many developments 
and advances that have been made in our Nation, and there are many. 
Lots of developments, lots of advances have been made in our Nation.
  We are in the midst of an economic boom. We all know that. We know 
that our economy is booming. We know that we have seen record low 
unemployment rates and that we have seen growing incomes. Simply put, 
jobs are being created and people are going back to work. As we look to 
the Nation's energy needs and output, people will often forget about 
how energy costs impact both people and the economy.
  I have always said that I subscribe to the all-of-the-above type of 
energy strategy, and I do; and I think it is extremely important for a 
number of different reasons, not the least of which is to make sure 
that we in America have energy independence, to make sure that we have 
affordable energy, that we never put ourselves in the position that I 
can remember us being in in the late seventies, where we were dependent 
and were literally held over the barrel, if you will, by other nations 
for our energy needs.
  We as a nation benefit from lower energy costs, meaning our monthly 
home energy bills are lower and the costs to do business are lower. 
Lower costs translate into the ability of companies to invest in their 
businesses and in their employees.
  American energy independence has been crucial to the growth we have 
seen since the recession. There is also significant investment by 
companies across the United States to be good stewards of their 
communities.
  Yes, it can be done. Yes, we can have energy independence. Yes, we 
can be good stewards of our communities.
  We are seeing significant investments in new, cleaner technologies, 
taking old and inefficient plants off-line, looking to energy 
efficiency and actively managing emissions. As has been mentioned by 
other speakers, we have done a great job in America of decreasing our 
emissions and still keeping our economy growing. There is a lot to be 
said for that.
  Carbon management has really caught on for a number of employers, and 
the technology that can make it more effective is very promising. For 
instance, there are companies actively looking to pull carbon from the 
air, to sequester it into the ground through direct air capture. This 
technology continues to develop and to mature.
  There are also important carbon capture systems being developed in my 
home district. We are seeing incredibly efficient turbines being built 
that produce much lower emission numbers than similar products or 
plants.
  In addition, I have the honor of serving on the Energy and Commerce 
Committee, and we have done quite a bit of work addressing the 
regulatory issues that would prevent these innovative and new 
technologies from coming to market. We are doing everything that we can 
to get the government out of the way.

  I have always said that the greatest innovators, the greatest 
scientists are right here in the United States of America, and they 
are. That is why I look toward the future with great anticipation, 
because I think this is going to be a great opportunity for us as 
Americans.
  I look at renewable energy. I look at everything that is going to be 
done in the way of energy production, and I see America leading the 
way, and it is important the Federal Government not be an obstacle, not 
be a barrier to that.
  As more regulatory hurdles are put up, the costs increase. That is 
why we focus on innovation and technology, new ideas and making sure 
that the private sector has the ability to explore these opportunities.
  As I mentioned earlier, there are countless examples of employers 
seeking new options to reduce their impact on their communities and 
looking to ways to be good stewards. In manufacturing alone, companies 
are looking at how to turn those challenges of reducing consumption 
into new opportunities.
  While one side of industry is looking at that, the energy sector is 
also investing in researching ways to become more efficient and 
effective when it comes to reducing emissions and expanding their 
energy mix.
  Madam Speaker, if you want to see a country that can innovate, if you 
want to see a country that can lead, you look to the United States of 
America. Again, that is why I am so excited about the future of our 
energy production.
  Just up the river from my district, Plant Vogtle has the only two 
nuclear units under construction in the United States. For a nation 
that once developed and dominated the nuclear sector, we have lagged 
behind direct competitors.
  As the largest carbon-free source of power in the world, it makes 
sense to move forward with developing next-generation technology that 
can lower costs. Nuclear energy is an area we can and should continue 
to once again have a leading role in the world.
  Whether it is nuclear, more efficient equipment, carbon capture, or 
some

[[Page H7232]]

other form of energy, now is our chance to really drill down and focus 
on the innovation and technology development that is needed.
  I join my colleagues here on the HEAT team as we continue to work 
towards policy solutions to these issues facing our country.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from 
Georgia, and he was one of the first members of the House Energy Action 
Team. He comes from the Energy and Commerce Committee, working with me 
alongside some others on the HEAT team.
  I want to applaud Whip Scalise for allowing the House Energy Action 
Team to be reformulated, give us a chance to talk, communicate directly 
with the American people about American energy renaissance, American 
energy issues.

                              {time}  2045

  I would like to recognize the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Olson). 
Before I do, I will say that one of the biggest honors I have had in my 
life came this year when Governor Abbott made me an honorary Texan. So 
I am proud to stand alongside my fellow Texan, Pete Olson from Texas, 
to talk about what is going on in the great State there.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Olson).
  Mr. OLSON. Madam Speaker, I thank my dear friend from South Carolina 
for those kind words about being an honorary Texan. We Texans take no 
offense to the comments he gave to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. 
Graves) about that being his home away from home, with all the ties 
between South Carolina and Texas.
  The Battle of the Alamo commander, William Barret Travis, who died 
for our freedom, came from South Carolina. Two football players who 
would take our Houston Texans to the Super Bowl, Jadeveon Clowney and 
Deshaun Watson, are products of South Carolina.
  I am happy to join my friend and the HEAT team tonight to talk about 
the American energy renaissance.
  Texans like to call this the era of America crushing OPEC's monopoly 
and finally tearing down Mr. Putin's wall of energy control over former 
Soviet Union states, nations like Estonia.
  My wife and I went there about 2 years ago on a Baltic cruise. We saw 
happy, happy people, like people in that picture.
  As my friend knows, that is a merchant vessel called Independence. It 
has been loaded with liquefied natural gas from Sabine Pass, Louisiana, 
by a company known as Cheniere, our first LNG port plant in American 
history.
  Two years ago, that ship pulled up in the capital of Estonia. As you 
can see, thousands and thousands of people waved flags and said welcome 
to Estonia, American liquefied natural gas, because they know that is 
not just a product. That is their freedom from Mr. Putin's autonomy and 
brutality. They know we exported liquid American freedom to Estonia.
  In contrast, our port in Houston is 52 miles long. If I got five 
people to walk out and see a tanker pull up, that would be huge. Our 
battleship, the USS Texas, is over 100 years old. She is about to be 
moved to be repaired, to be moored permanently, at Galveston Island. If 
I got 10 people, maybe 20, to watch our battleship be moved, that would 
be awesome.
  Those people came out in droves because they know their control by 
Mr. Putin is over.
  Let's talk about a great new ally called India. Their Prime Minister, 
Mr. Modi, is coming to Houston September 22. I have met the man four 
times. They are a growing economy of 1.4 billion people. They have our 
values.
  They have a problem with their energy. They have none that they can 
use in a clean, efficient manner. They have a lot of coal, but coal is 
dirty. They have no natural gas. They have no fossils, no oil.
  They can't have a pipeline deliver those products to their nation. 
Coming from the west, that pipeline has to go through Iran and 
Pakistan, enemies. To the north are the Himalaya mountains. If you 
could get a pipeline over an 18,000-foot elevation, God bless you. That 
is the eighth wonder of the world. To the east is a place in the world 
that is falling apart, Bangladesh.
  Their only solution to have cleaner air and energy independence is 
American LNG coming via the sea, a ship. One showed up last year loaded 
with LNG, again from Sabine Pass.
  We signed a contract, private sector to private sector, in India to 
deliver 14.4 megatons of LNG to India for over 20 years. That means 
there is no way we, the government, can get involved here in America or 
India. It is private sector to private sector freedom.
  Finally, Madam Speaker, to my friend, I have to brag about Texas. 
Liberal friends want to address climate change with carbon capture. We 
are okay with that, but it must be viable in our economy, and it must 
be viable in a free market.
  A company back home called NRG has a power plant 10 miles from my 
house called the Parish Power Plant. Parish generates energy from eight 
sources, four natural gas and four coal generators.
  Wanting to improve their business and make the air cleaner, make more 
money, and help out the world, on their own, they reached out to a 
Japanese company to build a carbon capture system that grabs over 92 
percent of CO2 up one of the coal stacks. But that 
technology was very, very expensive, over $1 billion.
  Our friends want energy to swallow that product and bury that money 
in the ground, that captured carbon in the ground. That means you will 
bury $1 billion in the ground.
  How can clean energy do that? By passing those rates on to the 
ratepayer. Unacceptable.
  What did they do? They grabbed that CO2, and they have a 
pipeline that goes 85 miles southeast to an old, depleted oil field. It 
is like fracking fluid. That CO2 puts more pressure, so oil 
comes out, and we sell it in the market. It is viable.
  In short, LNG dominance by America makes my home State of Texas 
great; it makes America greater; and it makes the whole world the 
greatest it can be.
  Drill, baby, drill. Frack, baby, frack. Export, baby, export.
  Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for the time.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Olson) for being here tonight.
  We hear a lot about the Green New Deal. That proposal is based solely 
on solar, wind, and hydropower in an effort to drastically cut carbon 
emissions across the country. In my State of South Carolina, we have 
seven reactors that produce 95 percent of the State's emission-free 
electricity, 53 percent of our total electricity costs.
  I want to show a graph really quickly before I introduce the 
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen).
  This graphic shows the magnitude of one nuclear reactor and compares 
the capacity factors of one reactor, rated at 1,154 megawatts, to wind 
turbines. To match one reactor, it takes 2,077 windmills. Yes, there 
are 2,077 windmills on this graph, and 2,077 would be needed.

  Think about the amount of acreage that it would take just to put the 
windmills up to meet the electricity generated from one nuclear 
reactor.
  I mentioned earlier the State of Georgia is building the only nuclear 
reactor being built in this country right now, and that is down at 
Vogtle in Augusta, Georgia.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Allen), 
from Augusta, and I am sure he is going to talk about nuclear energy.
  Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from South Carolina (Mr. 
Duncan) for chairing this Special Order tonight.
  Madam Speaker, I am proud to be a member of this House Energy Action 
Team. It is a special coalition of Members of Congress who are focused 
on energy policy. I was honored to be selected as the nuclear subteam 
leader. This will allow me to do my part to advance our nuclear energy 
priorities through Congress and allow America to remain a dominant 
player in the global nuclear industry.
  The theme for this Special Order is the American energy renaissance.
  I have to tell you, after President Trump took office, the war on 
energy and the war on business was over. It was like flipping on a 
light switch. America was open for business again, and the American 
people responded. We have the best economy in the world.
  Since then, we have continued to invest in our own energy resources 
and

[[Page H7233]]

have successfully made the United States energy independent. Who would 
have thought that 10 years ago?
  Georgia's 12th Congressional District is on the front line of the 
American energy renaissance, with the first two new nuclear reactors 
being built in the United States in the past 30 years at Plant Vogtle.
  Just in March, I had the opportunity to be with Secretary of Energy 
Rick Perry to see the placement of the top of the Unit 3 containment 
vessel, truly a historic moment.
  There is Secretary Perry, and there is the setting of the top of that 
vessel.
  Finishing construction on these two units means that Americans can 
still do big things. I look forward to Units 3 and 4 coming online 
soon.
  Nuclear energy plays an important role in Georgia's energy portfolio, 
as it accounts for more than a quarter of all power generated and is 
the only clean air source that can produce large amounts of electricity 
around the clock.
  Georgia 12 is also home to all of Georgia's nuclear capabilities, 
with four nuclear reactors, two already online at Plant Vogtle and two 
at Plant Hatch. These facilities currently employ almost 2,000 people, 
year-round, high-skilled employees.
  The construction of Units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle is the largest 
construction project in Georgia, with more than 8,000 workers onsite.
  When we talk about clean energy in this country, we don't need out-
of-touch, costly socialist policies like the Green New Deal that would 
devastate the best economy in the world. We are talking about 
unleashing private-sector innovation, like nuclear power.
  According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, Georgia's nuclear energy 
facilities alone avoid more than 21 million metric tons of carbon 
dioxide emissions each year, the equivalent of more than 4.4 million 
passenger cars.
  It is of the utmost importance that we ensure these nuclear plants 
continue to provide energy in a safe, reliable, and affordable manner.
  Georgia has been selected 6 years in a row as the best State to 
locate your business. A big reason for that is our low energy costs.
  Overall, I believe we must continue to pursue a proactive, 
responsible, and all-of-the-above energy policy that will benefit 
hardworking Americans and lower the cost of energy in this Nation.
  The House Energy Action Team will continue to be laser-focused on 
continuing America's energy renaissance, and I am so glad to be a part 
of it.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's comments, and 
I thank him for leading the group down to look at that nuclear reactor.
  Madam Speaker, it was cold this winter up in Michigan. Had it not 
been for fossil fuels, a lot of folks would have had a hard time.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg) 
to talk about his role on the Energy and Commerce Committee and here on 
the House Energy Action Team.
  Mr. WALBERG. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from South Carolina 
(Mr. Duncan) for yielding.
  Often during that polar vortex, I thought of South Carolina and 
sometimes wished that I could enjoy the warm breezes.
  Madam Speaker, as a member of the House Energy Action Team as well as 
a proud member of the Energy and Commerce Committee serving on the 
Energy Subcommittee, I rise today about an important subject we have 
been talking about here, and that is American energy security and 
independence.
  Madam Speaker, like many of my colleagues, I understand the 
importance of being a good steward of our environment. As an avid 
outdoorsman, a proud representative of the energy district of the Great 
Lakes State, a district that has wind, solar, nuclear, hydro, and coal 
power, along with natural gas, we have it all there. But I want my 
children and my grandchildren to experience the same beautiful world 
that I have experienced. In fact, Madam Speaker, I want them to 
experience even better.
  We can do that in the use of our energy as well, but we are not going 
to get there through socialist policies like the Green New Deal that 
will cause energy prices to skyrocket and commit, really, a fraud on 
the American people.

                              {time}  2100

  Instead, we should focus on solutions that spur innovation and 
encourage investments in new technologies that support these goals 
while keeping a reliable, resilient grid. These investments are 
happening now, but the transition needs to happen in an orderly way 
that doesn't hinder economic growth or the security of our country.
  One step we can take right now is to update our energy policies for 
the 21st century. The energy landscape looks totally different than it 
did 40 years ago. Energy resources are abundant instead of scarce. It 
is a more diverse market than ever before, and it will continue.
  With that in mind, I introduced H.R. 1502, the PURPA Modernization 
Act. The bill simply increases competition and reforms outdated 
regulations from the 1970s, so that consumers are not burdened with 
unnecessary costs on their utility bills coming from stale, outdated 
green energy regulations.
  We also can't forget that an all-of-the-above energy approach will 
continue to utilize safe, clean, and resilient nuclear-based power, 
like that produced at the Fermi plants in my district.
  Getting new technologies, like advanced carbon capture, out of a lab 
and into the market is also crucial. This past winter, we saw the 
importance of baseload power when temperatures in Michigan and other 
places in the north plummeted to lower than 40 degrees below zero.
  I would point my colleagues to bipartisan legislation that I helped 
introduce last week with my friend and colleague from Texas, 
Representative Crenshaw, which would provide a jump-start to those 
innovative technologies at commercial scale.
  In closing, Madam Speaker, let's get to work on legislating, not 
political messaging. The American people sent us here to work on 
solutions that impact their pocketbooks and, yes, also promote their 
pursuit of happiness. That is what America is about: unleashing 
American energy. And bringing down prices for families we represent is 
certainly an important crucial discussion to have.
  Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman tonight for leading this.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, America watching tonight will see that we 
have got a lot of great leaders in Congress that understand energy, and 
they come from a lot of different States.
  The State of Arkansas produces oil, produces coal, produces a lot of 
biomass, and produces hydroelectric. They also produce a lot of ducks. 
I enjoy going to Arkansas and hunting.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) to 
talk about what is going on in his great State.
  Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from South 
Carolina for yielding. He is welcome in the beautiful rice country of 
Arkansas to hunt ducks this fall at any time. I appreciate his 
leadership of the Sportsmen's Caucus, the largest bipartisan caucus we 
have here in the House, and all of the good work it does in wildlife 
conservation and conservation of our public lands, so I thank my friend 
for that.
  It is true, I appreciate also his work in the House Energy Action 
Team and that of our whip,   Steve Scalise of Louisiana. And that is 
because we all are talking tonight about the importance of energy to 
our economy, the importance of energy to our families, and how that has 
to be balanced in the world of public policy.
  Madam Speaker, in 2018, crude oil was the world's number one export 
product. Last year, the U.S. accounted for 98 percent of global growth 
in oil production. Since the Congress lifted the 40-year ban on oil 
exports in 2015, U.S. production continues to set records, and, just 
last month set a new all-time high of exporting 3.3 million barrels of 
crude per day.
  Lifting the ban has filled pipelines and sparked a surge of 
investment across this land in new shipping infrastructure around the 
U.S.
  Total crude imports have also dropped significantly as we rely now 
more on domestic production and that production produced by our friends 
in Canada. Likewise, exporting clean natural gas is a leading export of 
the United States.
  South Korea is now the largest buyer of American clean natural gas, 
Madam

[[Page H7234]]

Speaker. That is cleaning up their skies, lowering their carbon 
emissions, and cutting their trade imbalance with the United States.
  Exporting more gas, exporting more oil, and lifting the ban has 
allowed us to be an energy leader in the world. We are no longer second 
fiddle to the Gulf, to Saudi Arabia, or to Russia. This comes as the 
United States is leading the world also, Madam Speaker, in reducing 
global climate or carbon emissions. Between 2000 and 2014, the United 
States reduced emissions more than 18 percent.
  On the contrary, the world's largest carbon emitters, like China and 
India, continue to have no policy to reduce their emissions, despite 
having the lowest marginal cost to do that. In the EU and the United 
States, it is very expensive for us to lower carbon emissions per unit. 
But, when you are a major carbon polluter, such as India and China, the 
marginal cost to clean up their action is so much cheaper.
  Instead, China is building 300 new coal plants, and not a single 
country in the EU is on target to meet their carbon reduction goals. 
These countries must do more to be competitive with us on the efforts 
we are taking here in the U.S.
  Like my friends from Georgia and South Carolina, I am a strong 
supporter of nuclear energy because it is the cleanest, most green form 
of base power generation. In Arkansas, we get about 19 percent of our 
electricity generated from nuclear.
  And I support the idea of better and more effective ways to store 
nuclear waste, which we have talked about and tried to pass in this 
House. Any discussion of eliminating carbon emissions must include 
nuclear energy.
  We also must invest in longer battery life technologies and lowering 
barriers towards solar cell innovation. The future of clean energy 
rests with harnessing the power of the Sun and being able to store that 
power cheaply and portably. No one, Madam Speaker, is doing more 
research on that than the United States. We are spending over $550 
million a year on advanced energy research to make our country even 
more energy competitive.

  So, I believe, like many of my colleagues, we need to pursue an all-
of-the-above energy strategy that will lead us to a cleaner, less 
carbon-dependent world without forcing American families and Arkansas 
families to bear the burden of flawed policies like the Green New Deal 
or the Paris climate accord.
  Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from South Carolina for this time, 
for his leadership, and I look forward to working with him on these 
issues in the years to come.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I thank all of the members of the House 
Energy Action Team for coming to the floor tonight and communicating 
with the American people about the American energy renaissance.
  When our constituents think about cost of energy, a lot of times 
their first thoughts are transportation fuel. How much is it going to 
cost them to fill up the tank? Is there going to be enough money left 
over after their transportation fuel costs to feed the family, buy 
groceries, maybe do improvements, and other things that American 
families spend money on.
  But one of the factors in energy cost is what you pay for that 
electricity and what do our manufacturers pay for that electricity? 
Where does that electricity get generated? And, most importantly, will 
it be a 24-7, 365-day baseload power supply always on, available when 
they want to manufacture that next BMW in Greer, South Carolina, or 
that next Boeing aircraft in Charleston, or the next component that 
goes in one of those manufactured all over the country.
  We take for granted in this Nation that we do have a 24-7, 365-day 
baseload power supply always on, and it is transmitted over tremendous 
infrastructure, but that infrastructure needs to be improved. We need 
pipelines to transfer and transmit the natural gas that is being 
produced and the oil that is being produced in places like Texas, 
Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. But also the wind power that is 
generated wherever wind is generated and solar power wherever solar 
power is generated, there has to be transmission lines to get that 
power to the grid so that it can be used.
  So as we have the conversation in America about all of the above--and 
one thing the House Energy Action Team is about is all of the above; we 
like wind, solar, and hydro, it is all groovy--but we know what works, 
and that is nuclear power and that is hydro and fossil fuels, 
supplemented by the alternative fuels that are coming online.
  We have got the GrayMatter innovators and entrepreneurs in this 
country to meet some of the things that Mr. Hill talked about: the 
battery capacity. And that is there to store that power to be used when 
needed, when it is generated by wind and solar. It is intermittent to 
store that power, it's generated when the Sun is shining and generated 
when the wind is blowing, and it is stored to be used at night or when 
the wind isn't blowing. Nuclear power always runs, and natural gas 
always runs. These are components of this debate that we need to talk 
about.
  Madam Speaker, I appreciate Members of the House Energy Action Team 
coming to the floor and talking with America with so much passion about 
American energy to meet the needs of our constituents, but at an 
affordable price that helps our constituents meet their budgets.


                             General Leave

  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the topic of this Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from South Carolina?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity for this 
Special Order, and I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________