[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 89 (Wednesday, May 22, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3821-S3822]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 ENERGY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now on another matter, last Thursday, 
the Biden administration announced its plan to sacrifice yet another 
source of affordable, reliable American energy on the altar of climate 
activism.
  After years of freezes and bans on onshore and offshore oil and gas 
leasing,

[[Page S3822]]

the administration's latest attempt to appease Democrats' radical base 
is a ban on new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and 
Montana.
  This region is responsible for producing nearly half of the Nation's 
coal. Last year alone, the basin created more than 250 million tons of 
coal and employs more than 4,000 people. Shutting off development will 
result in lost jobs and millions of dollars of lost revenue for Montana 
and Wyoming.
  The sting of the administration's War on Coal is one Kentuckians know 
all too well. And working families across the country are already 
struggling with persistent inflation. Energy prices alone have risen 
more than 40 percent since President Biden took office.
  But Washington Democrats' radicalism may have finally stretched their 
own party to a breaking point. In fact, the Biden administration's war 
on affordable, reliable American energy has proven so radically harmful 
to consumers, workers, and our global competitiveness that it is facing 
bipartisan opposition right here in the Senate.
  Just yesterday, a bipartisan majority passed Senator Cruz's 
resolution disapproving of the Department of Energy's new rule to 
effectively ban affordable natural gas home furnaces.
  This rule would significantly increase the existing efficiency 
standard and effectively ban the sale of more affordable home heating 
furnaces that don't meet it. By one estimate, this rule will heap as 
much as $4 billion in new costs onto consumers who already can't afford 
the high cost of the Biden economy.
  The American people have suffered enough, from Bidenomics to the 
Green New Deal. I am glad a majority of the Senate agrees it is time to 
slam the brakes on the administration's assault on gas appliances. And 
I am thankful to my colleague Senator Cruz for bringing attention to 
this madness.

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