[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 19 (Thursday, February 1, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Energy

  Mr. President, on another matter, last week, the Biden administration 
followed through on a devastating threat to some of the most abundant 
and reliable energy made here in America and to those who rely on it 
around the world.
  The administration's de facto ban on new liquefied natural gas export 
permits is the sort of policy so profoundly damaging that it could only 
have been dreamt up by the leftwing activists who are increasingly 
calling the shots on President Biden's energy policies.
  As I have mentioned before, this de facto ban is harmful to American 
interests both at home and abroad. Canceled export permits mean 
canceled projects and canceled jobs. Bans on exploring and exporting 
American energy mean working families pay higher prices for gasoline, 
home heating, and countless other everyday expenses.
  Since President Biden took office, the cost of gasoline has increased 
a cumulative 35 percent, fuel oil prices have increased 61 percent, 
natural gas has increased 27 percent, and electricity prices have 
increased 25 percent. But the costs of the administration's green bent 
aren't confined to our own borders. For the past 2 years, allies who 
once relied on Russian energy have started consuming more clean 
American LNG. As a recent editorial put it, ``If new U.S. LNG projects 
are blocked, Europe and Asia will have to import gas from elsewhere to 
meet their growing demand. Most won't come from America's friends.''
  Iran and Russia are both increasing their LNG production 
capabilities, ready to meet desperate demand when American export 
capacity no longer can. Meanwhile, the same radical activists who drove 
a stake through the Keystone XL Pipeline are gleefully declaring 
victory in their campaign to make America and our allies more reliant 
on dirty energy from our adversaries.
  President Biden, in keeping with his administration's practice of 
rewarding bad behavior with more responsibility, put one of the 
masterminds of his climate policy up for a promotion at the EPA. 
Yesterday, Senate Democrats overran bipartisan opposition to confirm 
Joseph Goffman's nomination as Assistant Administrator.
  As I have said before, Mr. Goffman has encouraged the EPA's worst--
worst--regulatory excesses and put activist whims over American workers 
and job creators. By some estimates, he has presided over the 
elimination of half the Nation's coal jobs. Unfortunately, the radical 
climate agenda he is helping to steer shows no signs of slowing down.