Republicans on a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee spent Wednesday morning rattling off Biden administration policies that they said are marking gasoline and electricity unaffordable for many Americans.
The lawmakers used a hearing of the Subcommittee on Energy, Climate and Grid Security to try to pin high energy prices on Democrats — and to further distance themselves from the administration’s billions of dollars in clean energy spending — less than two months before the November elections.
“There’s an important choice we need to make moving forward,” said Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.). “We can continue down the path of energy restrictions, reduced reliability and unaffordable costs, or we can choose the path of energy dominance, security and economic property. I believe the choice is obvious.”
The debate over fluctuations in energy prices and the role that the Biden and Trump administrations have played in those changes underscored the deep partisan divide on energy policy and put on display lawmakers eagerness to politicize energy issues in the run-up to the elections.
Gasoline and natural gas prices are generally in line with historical averages. However, electricity prices have risen significantly — by about 20 percent since late 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Republicans blasted clean energy incentives in Democrats’ 2022 climate law, accused the Biden administration of trying to implement an “electric vehicle mandate” and questioned vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ views on fracking. Harris said as recently as Tuesday that she no longer supports a ban on fracking.
Democrats took the opportunity to note that oil and gas production has reached record highs under the Biden administration — a fact that they have generally shied away from amid criticism from environmental advocates.
They also pointed to investments in the Inflation Reduction Act that are spurring a transition to renewables that is making the electric grid more resilient.
“Clean electricity has become the most affordable form of energy there is, and these investments are getting it built,” said Trevor Higgins, senior vice president for energy and environment at the Center for American Progress.
“The risks of climate change are severe — potentially irreversible and highly costly — and fighting climate change is a way to fight inflation,” said Higgins, Democrats’ sole witness.
‘A lot of political talking points’
Linda Pryor, a North Carolina farm manager testifying on behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation, told lawmakers that her electricity bills during the Biden administration have increased, in part because her utility now charges a “renewable energy rider” meant to compensate for the costs of trying to meet North Carolina’s renewable energy standard.
Former president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says he wants to lower energy prices by expanding oil and gas extraction, providing tax cuts to fossil fuel producers and eliminating some of the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits.
However, economists have warned that some of those plans could backfire and actually end up increasing energy prices. Trump’s proposal to increase tariffs on certain renewable energy components could pass on those fees to consumers in the form of higher prices.
Further, experts say the president’s options for limiting gas prices are limited. Gasoline prices are largely out of the hands of the president and Trump’s promises to “drill, baby, drill” are less likely to impact prices than international crises, supply interruptions and other factors.
Texas Democratic Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, whose district is home to numerous fossil fuel producers, sought to highlight an area of common ground on energy policy.
“It feels a little bit more like campaign season in here and a lot of political talking points — I don’t think that’s useful,” she said.
She noted that energy permitting reform could help lower energy costs while supporting all kinds of energy production.
Energy and Natural Resources Chair Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) and ranking member John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) have introduced a permitting package that would streamline approvals for transmission lines and renewable energy, as well as for oil and gas projects.
Across the Capitol, House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) is workshopping a bill that would speed up federal environmental reviews and limit litigation for a range of energy projects.
The two bills could be merged into a single, more comprehensive permitting package before the end of the year.
