Washington, DC -- Today, a bipartisan group of 22 Congressmen, including Congressman McCarthy, fought to oppose H.R. 2337, a bill that would make energy harder to produce, more expensive, and less available. Yet, the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 2337 and took a step backwards in achieving energy independence.
“I imagine an America that is less reliant on foreign sources of energy, which is why I joined a bipartisan group of my colleagues on the Natural Resources Committee in fighting for real solutions to meet our future energy needs,” said Congressman McCarthy. “The current American reserve of solid, liquid, and gas energy is 42 times greater than foreign sources of proven energy reserves. We have the capability and ingenuity to achieve energy independence, so let’s trust our own people, like our friends working hard to produce American generated energy in the 22nd District of California. If we are serious about energy independence, Congress should support expanded energy exploration and opportunities for Americans to provide more of our energy, instead of relying on countries like Venezuela, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Today’s bill that passed out of committee takes a step backwards by making American produced energy more expensive and increasing our dependence on foreign oil.”
Congressman Don Young, Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, summarized the bill in his opening statement by saying:
“So far as I can tell, this bill:
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Makes oil and natural gas harder and more expensive to produce domestically,
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Increases the costs of all energy by making energy corridors tougher to build,
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Stops our nation’s largest potential liquid transportation fuel source – our two trillion barrel oil shale resource - dead in its tracks.”
During the Committee markup, an amendment supported by Congressman McCarthy to help repair the bill by stripping provisions that represented an assault on wind energy - a key renewable energy source produced in the 22nd District – was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support with a vote of 43-1.
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