[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 150 (Monday, September 15, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6590-S6591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Energy

  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President and colleagues, I am here to share some 
good news. This past weekend, California State lawmakers passed a 
package of legislation to lower the cost of living for working 
families.
  I say this is good news because every day, Americans continue to wake 
up to higher and higher prices in so many ways. We all feel it at the 
grocery store. Many of us felt it these past few weeks as we were back-
to-school shopping. We, I think, are about to see it in our healthcare 
costs pretty soon. We are certainly feeling it in our monthly energy 
bills.
  I can give a lot of examples, but I want to focus today on our energy 
bills and what California is doing and what we seem to be doing here in 
Congress.
  I think it is timely because despite the fact that then-candidate 
Donald Trump promised to ``slash prices by half within 12 months,'' the 
reality is that, today, not only are we not seeing energy prices go 
down, we are actually seeing them go up. That is right. They are 
actually rising twice as fast as inflation. So much for keeping your 
promises.
  Many Americans are struggling to keep up with these bills so much 
that they are now turning to payment plans just to keep the lights on. 
So in California this last weekend, lawmakers did something about it, 
and I think it is notable. Together, Governor Newsom and the 
legislature took several steps to strengthen our energy portfolio and 
lower prices for consumers.
  I want to point out just some of the highlights of these significant 
but meaningful steps. This includes working to increase the supply of 
energy that Californians count on, and it includes working with 
counterparts more formally now in States like Oregon and Washington to 
create a regional electrical grid across the Western United States.
  But even for the progress that we are making at the State level and 
at the regional level, what is so frustrating is that at the national 
level, Republicans continue to pursue policies that are increasing our 
energy costs.
  This administration is shamelessly working to block one of our best 
defenses against rising energy bills: renewable energy. And I say so 
because renewable energy is absolutely affordable; renewable energy is 
abundant; and whether you want to admit it or not, renewable energy 
sources are our future.
  I know I have heard a lot of my Republican colleagues for years say 
that, well, renewable energy is simply too expensive. But the reality 
is that, today, solar is half the cost of coal and significantly 
cheaper than natural gas. Wind power, too, is also cheaper than both 
coal and gas.
  Having heard the counterarguments, again, for years, I know others 
will say: Well, we shouldn't be subsidizing renewable energy sources, 
as if the fossil fuel industry hasn't been propped up by subsidies over 
the years. And even more recently, I suggest look no further than 
Trump's ``Big Beautiful Bill''--plenty of subsidies for the fossil fuel 
industry. And, finally, I have heard naysayers say that, well, we can't 
depend on renewable energy because it is just not reliable. What 
happens when the Sun is not shining? What happens when the wind is not 
blowing? We have a genuine concern about intermittency. So do we.

  But guess what. California--yes, the same California that has grown 
to be the fourth largest economy in the world--is showing how we can 
overcome those concerns and solve those problems. See, over the last 
few years alone, California has brought renewable energy capacity onto 
the grid in record numbers. In 2023, clean energy made up two-thirds of 
our retail electricity. And it is not just bringing more renewable 
energy onto the grid; we have simultaneously made the grid more 
reliable. That is in part because, since 2019, battery storage capacity 
in California has grown by nearly 2,000 percent. So we are harnessing 
the power of solar and wind and hydroelectric power and nuclear, 
geothermal--even hydrogen power--to our State.
  It is exactly because of those investments that even in a year like 
2024, just last year, when we experienced record heat waves, we also 
saw record renewable energy generation and we kept the lights on.
  Now, we are not naive. We know that with a growing population and a 
growing economy, including but not limited to the future of an AI boom, 
demand will continue to grow. But we are committed to the kind of 
inclusive portfolio of energy options that has made our grid more 
reliable.
  But despite that progress, despite that success story, Donald Trump 
and many of our Republican colleagues have continued to wage war on 
clean energy. This administration and Department of Energy Secretary 
Wright say they support an all-of-the-above strategy--this was actually 
a very intentional conversation we had at Secretary Wright's 
confirmation hearing in committee months and months ago--but the facts 
show otherwise.
  What we have seen over the last several months is the Trump 
administration cut historic tax credits from the Inflation Reduction 
Act that were lowering costs and supercharging our clean energy 
transition.
  This administration has canceled offshore wind projects, including 
one that was nearly complete off the coast of Rhode Island, and they 
are clawing back funding from job-creating solar projects that are 
lowering energy bills. This makes no sense. According to Climate Power, 
since Donald Trump was elected to his second term, over 120 clean 
energy projects across the country have either been canceled, delayed, 
or they are laying off staff. That is certainly not good for the 
economy and not good for job creation. It is not good for the grid. 
Taking nearly 14,000 megawatts off the grid--that is the

[[Page S6591]]

equivalent of removing power to supply 8.4 million homes in America. No 
wonder prices are rising. It is simple supply and demand. But at the 
same time, Donald Trump is paying to extend the life of older fossil 
fuel plants, which will only raise costs. When they are older, they 
tend to be dirtier. When they are older, they are more expensive to 
maintain. And all of this while ceding our global leadership in 
renewable energy production and innovation to China. Now, that is not 
just bad for consumers; it is not just bad for reliability; it is 
literally putting lives at risk.
  Every year that we burn more fossil fuel than we need to, our climate 
crisis worsens. That means more frequent and more devastating extreme 
weather--not just in California but across the country. In California, 
it has led to a worsening drought, relentless atmospheric rivers, and--
yes, all too often--life-threatening wildfires, just as we experienced 
in the Los Angeles region this past January.
  It is no surprise that Donald Trump loves to attack California's 
leaders on wildfire policy and our climate leadership. We also know he 
loves to play politics with disaster funding. That record is clear. He 
continues to dig us deeper and deeper into an energy policy that 
actually increases the risk of the next great disaster, and 
Californians will be left to clean up the mess.
  So here in the Senate, I have worked hard to try to address that. We 
passed the FIRE Act a couple of years ago to help FEMA better prepare 
for and respond to wildfires. We secured the transfer of seven C-130 
Hercules aircraft to strengthen our arsenal and to fight against deadly 
wildfires, adding to CAL FIRE's largest aerial firefighting fleet in 
the world. I continue to work with colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to build support for the Fix Our Forests Act to improve forest 
management practices, protect urban areas from devastation, and harness 
our technology and our expertise.
  I am proud of that work we have been doing, but the backdrop of all 
of that is still an indisputable fact that reliance on fossil fuels 
comes at a cost, and Americans--not just Californians but Americans--
are paying for it in the form of higher energy bills and in lives 
destroyed after these major disasters.
  So no matter how many times Donald Trump says it, we can never and 
will never ``drill, baby, drill'' our way to cheaper energy costs. Our 
solution has to be a more inclusive approach to our energy portfolios, 
and we also need to streamline projects and speed up the timeline it 
takes to get them approved, to get them completed, and to get them 
online. We need to make our grid more efficient by supporting the 
buildup of our transmission system and the regionalization of our grid. 
Regional cooperation means improved efficiency and improved 
reliability. That is how we meet our growing demand--more options, not 
less; more cooperation, not less; and more sources of energy, not less.
  Trump might continue to lie to the American people about renewable 
energy, but Americans know that this energy crisis doesn't have to 
continue forever, and California is proud to show the way forward.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mr. PADILLA. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. FISCHER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.