[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 122 (Tuesday, July 13, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S4844]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Energy Policy

  Madam President, we have to talk about the White House's hypocritical 
and backward energy policy that is putting a target on American 
workers.
  The Biden administration is happy to cancel U.S. pipelines and kill 
the jobs pipelines create, putting people in Louisiana and elsewhere in 
the Nation out of business, justifying it by saying this is how we 
lower greenhouse gas emissions. Yet they then greenlight a Russian 
pipeline into Germany when the emissions that come from Russian gas far 
exceed the emission profile of gas that is produced in Louisiana or 
elsewhere in our country. By the way, it also creates Russian jobs 
while simultaneously we are killing American jobs.
  Then let's look at gas prices, which are now much higher than they 
were. The Biden administration is working to put a pause on oil and gas 
production in the Gulf of Mexico, but they are pleading with OPEC to 
increase OPEC production, saying we need more oil shipped to the United 
States to lower gas prices.
  Just last week, the President's Press Secretary said the 
administration is encouraging OPEC countries to reach agreements to 
increase production while they are simultaneously stymieing U.S. 
production and the U.S. jobs that go along with the production of U.S. 
oil and gas.
  And it just begs the question: The administration is helping Russians 
and the Russian economy; they are helping OPEC nations and workers in 
OPEC; why don't we think about helping American workers It just cannot 
be understood.

  I am demanding; we are demanding; we are pleading not with OPEC but 
with the administration to leave our jobs and the livelihoods of 
Louisiana workers and American workers alone.
  Let's just speak about the Louisiana industry. The oil and gas 
industry in Louisiana is a major economic and industrial force, a force 
for good, and the benefits from the environmental perspective must be 
stated. The United States is a global leader in decreasing greenhouse 
gas emissions, and this happened because of increased production of 
U.S. natural gas. We simultaneously became a net exporter of energy, 
helping other nations lower their emission profile as well. But what we 
have seen in the last few months, you would not understand that.
  As I mentioned earlier, President Biden canceled the Keystone XL 
Pipeline and 11,000 jobs with it, but, again, Russian pipelines are OK. 
The administration removed sanctions from Russia, clearing the way for 
the construction of the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline--cementing, by the way, 
Europe's reliance upon Russian gas. Again, Russian gas, the production 
of it, emits far more greenhouse gas emissions than the production of 
American and Louisiana natural gas.
  It is almost, if you will, a quadruple whammy: weakening U.S. 
security, increasing global greenhouse gas emissions, increasing gas 
prices, and killing American jobs. That is what this administration's 
policies have been doing. It begs the question: Why don't we green-
light U.S. pipelines as opposed to green-lighting Russian pipelines?
  Americans across the country, every time they fill up their tanks, 
feel these punches, and they are tired of it. The average price of 
gasoline has now been over $3 a gallon since May, clocking in at $3.15 
as of today, and it is only going up--expected that gas prices will 
rise another 10 to 20 cents through the end of August. Louisiana is a 
bit luckier. Because of our position as an energy powerhouse, the gas 
prices here at home are still averaging about $2.75--not going down 
anytime soon.
  While the administration is actively trying to kill domestic energy 
jobs, they are working to increase production of oil overseas--again, 
asking the OPEC cartel to increase production so there is more oil to 
lower gas prices. Why don't we just produce more oil in the United 
States of America?
  The administration says that they are killing jobs in the United 
States because of carbon emissions, but when you produce oil and gas in 
the Gulf of Mexico and you bring it to our shores, it has the lowest 
emissions profile of any oil and gas that we use in our country. You 
almost have to ask, what is it about the U.S. oil and gas worker that 
the administration doesn't like?
  In 2019--just speaking about Louisiana--in 2019, oil and gas 
operations supported nearly 250,000 Louisiana jobs, about 1 out of 
every 9 jobs in my State. The oil and gas industry provided $73 billion 
to the State's gross domestic product, more than a quarter. Through 
taxes alone, it accounted for $4.5 billion going directly to coastal 
restoration, environmental improvement projects, schools, 
infrastructures, roads--you name it--making life better for the 
citizens of my State.
  It has been only 6 months of the Biden administration, but every day, 
that target on the back of an oil and gas worker and on their family's 
future gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
  One more time, let me say in conclusion, the Biden administration's 
working against U.S. oil and gas production is making other countries 
stronger; it is making us weaker. It weakens America's security, it 
increases global greenhouse gas emissions, it increases gas prices, and 
it kills jobs. We need better policy for our country, for my State, and 
for our workers.
  I yield back.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont