SEEC Criticizes House Republicans’ Continued Support for Dirty, Expensive Energy Solutions

Washington, D.C. – The leaders of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), including Co-Chairs Reps. Doris Matsui, Mike Quigley, and Paul Tonko and Vice Chairs Reps. Don Beyer, Suzanne Bonamici, Sean Casten, Mike Levin, and Chellie Pingree, released the following statement in response to the House passage of the National Coal Council Reestablishment Act (H.R. 3015), Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act (H.R. 3062), and Guaranteeing Reliability through the Interconnection of Dispatchable Power Act (H.R. 1047), which continue to prioritize dirty, expensive energy sources over cleaner and cheaper options.

“This week, House Republicans continued their assault on affordable, homegrown clean energy, passing a slate of bills that double down on dirty, expensive fossil fuels. Instead of tackling the cost-of-living crisis, Republicans seem intent to live in the past, trying to resurrect abandoned pipeline projects and bringing back the ‘golden age’ of coal mining. It’s becoming clearer by the day that Trump’s idea of ‘energy dominance’ means 10% higher energy bills for hardworking Americans and tens of thousands of good-paying jobs shipped overseas as we cede the global energy economy to China. Far from energy dominance, propping up dirty and expensive coal, rewriting pipeline policies to pump more foreign oil into America, and hamstringing the most affordable sources of energy in our nation is a one-way road to irrelevance. 

“Here are the facts that Republicans don’t want you to know. The states where wind and solar produce the greatest share of electricity have some of the cheapest electricity rates in the country. And while the cost of building a new fossil fuel-fired power plant has hit 10-year highs, clean energy from our sun and wind is cheaper and faster to deploy. 

“Trump’s lies come with a cost. And that cost is becoming increasingly apparent in Americans’ skyrocketing monthly energy bills. But House Republicans would rather hand over the country to Trump’s billionaire fossil fuel donors than actually lower costs for their constituents.”