[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S187-S188]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, it is nice to see you in the Chair, Mr. 
President. I haven't seen that for a while. Congratulations to you.
  I feel like yesterday I was in the movie ``Back to the Future.'' I 
rise today to voice my deep concern with the lengthy Executive order 
that President Biden issued yesterday pertaining to climate, and my 
larger concerns about where the Biden administration is moving with 
regard to their energy and environment agenda.
  President Biden, very passionately, as we sat out on the steps, 
called for unity in his January 20 inauguration speech. But as his 
first actions, President Biden managed to kill thousands of jobs and 
paralyze America's industry--the energy industry.
  His order yesterday put a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on 
Federal lands. This is an economic, energy, and national security 
disaster, in my view. This order moves America from energy independence 
back to relying on foreign sources for fuel--and a lot of times these 
are the countries that have much more lax environmental policies than 
we have right here in the United States.
  The order also usurps our States' rights--the States' rights which 
are to manage their own energy industries.
  As you know, I come from an energy-producing State. We have a proud 
heritage of that. So what about the States that rely on tax revenues 
from the energy industry to fund education? We see what has happened 
with education now under the pandemic. More headwinds into how do we 
deliver a great education product is a question we are going to be 
answering over the next several months and years. So any ideas?
  I wonder if President Biden actually talked to any of the Governors 
of these States to see what the impact of what he was doing might have.
  But what we saw yesterday in the press conference was President Biden 
and Gina McCarthy and John Kerry's ultimate goal, which is to ban 
fossil fuels. They were pretty upfront about that.
  So my skepticism, when I hear that the administration is going to 
give industry time to transition and give workers a clean energy job--
that is where I found myself thinking: I am in ``Back to the Future.'' 
I have heard this before because I vividly remember the empty promises 
of the past.
  This is a deeply personal issue for me because I have lived through 
this. I have seen this playbook before. So we are back to the future.
  The Obama administration said the very same things to West 
Virginians. In fact, I remember the same people saying the same things, 
and I remember the utterly unachievable regulatory requirements that 
Gina McCarthy created in her position as head of the EPA that decimated 
my State.
  I remember the thousands of jobs lost--and still lost--and the 
hopelessness and then the succeeding opioid epidemic that followed.
  I remember begging the Obama EPA to come to West Virginia to see how 
the regulations, with no time to transition, were destroying more of 
our State's economy. They were destroying our families. They really 
didn't seem to care. The only response I got in one of my hearings was, 
well, they will come to Pittsburgh. Well, that is not coming to West 
Virginia.
  Look, I am not here to just put down the Biden administration. I want 
to work with the administration, and I am going to be in a position to 
do that as ranking member on EPW. I want to be a part of the solution. 
I am not a climate denier. We all need to take care of our planet. We 
must be good stewards of our Earth, of our water. We know it is the 
right thing to do.
  The free market is already moving in that direction, which was part 
of the presentation yesterday. Private companies are cutting their 
emissions. That is awesome. And as we see the emission figures, they 
have gone way down over the last 15 years.
  Consumers moving toward greener products? That is great. I find 
myself doing that in my everyday living, and it is great. I feel like, 
in some ways, I am doing my small part at home.
  But a national energy transition really needs time, and the Biden 
administration needs to be very clear about what their timetables 
really are.
  They also need to be very clear about who is really in charge here. 
This is another one of my concerns. President Biden's nominees--Michael 
Regan; Jennifer Granholm; Brenda Mallory, at CEQ, Janet McCabe; and 
even Pete Buttigieg--have all been tasked with addressing climate. They 
are going to be tripping all over each other, before you even consider 
those avoiding Senate confirmation, process all of this together--
McCarthy, Kerry, and a whole host of other czars who aren't accountable 
to Congress. So who is really going to be making the decisions? I 
think, from yesterday's press conference, it is pretty clear what the 
answer to that question could probably be.
  Will this Cabinet actually wield any power or will the decisions be 
made in the White House in an effort to avoid public and congressional 
scrutiny?

[[Page S188]]

  The American people really need to know. West Virginians need to 
know. New Jerseyans need to know. I will definitely be asking those 
questions in the upcoming hearing.
  In closing, I would just like to say that America is a great and very 
proud energy producer. West Virginia has powered the country for 
decades, and we are incredibly proud of that fact. Coal, natural gas, 
oil, solar, wind, nuclear, biomass--our country has been incredibly 
blessed with energy resources, and using all of them keeps Americans 
safe and keeps our country running.
  Eliminating fossil fuels from our energy mix will lead to higher 
utility costs and less reliability. So whom does that really hurt? It 
hurts those in the lower and mid-income category--the ones that are 
hurting right now because of this pandemic. And you can just ask 
California about the rising cost and the rise in unreliability of the 
grid.
  Renewables can't power our country at 100 percent all the time right 
now. Maybe in the future, but right now they can't, and battery 
technology hasn't been able to fill that gap.
  But we can address climate change together through innovation and 
technology. We already have new markets for coal and carbon products. 
We know investing in carbon capture and utilization and storage is 
critical. For a lot of reasons it is a win-win on both sides. We know 
new technologies are progressing every single day, and we have been 
working on this issue in a bipartisan way. Senator Whitehouse and I 
were the main proponents of the 45Q credit for capturing carbon and 
reusing it.
  But I am very concerned that President Biden's Executive order 
yesterday really alienated some of the key players in the conversation, 
and I don't think that is the way to build unity. Here we go--back to 
the future, picking winners and losers. That is pitting American jobs 
against one and the other, and that can create and will create 
resentment across the country.
  So I urge the President--let's tackle these climate challenges 
together, not through overreaching Presidential orders and Federal 
regulations. This country has risen to every single challenge that we 
have had. This climate challenge is no different. I understand the 
urgency. I understand the issue. But with our American ingenuity, we 
can find these solutions together.
  So let's make our future one that we build together.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Baldwin). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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