Rep. Kelly Armstrong (ND-At Large): "The United States is the closest we’ve been in history to achieving both food and energy security. Thanks to advances in the oil and gas industry, we no longer need to rely on energy imports from foreign powers that may not share our interests. Instead, states like North Dakota produce energy that powers the country."
Background:
House Committee on Foreign Affairs Markup on H.R. 9
Today, the House Democratic Foreign Affairs Committee forced H.R. 9 through the Committee at a Committee markup.
If this legislation is signed into law, it would prevent President Trump from withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement.
According to a study by NERA Consulting, meeting the Obama Administration’s requirements in the Paris Accord would cost the U.S. economy nearly $3 trillion over the next several decades and 6.5 million industrial sector jobs.
Under the Paris Climate Agreement, China and India will actually increase emissions until 2030. The U.S. was the world leader in carbon emissions reductions in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Further, from 2005 to 2017, the U.S. cut 862 million tons, a 14 percent decline. Over that same period, global emissions increased by 26 percent and China increased its emissions by 4 billion tons and India increased its carbon dioxide emissions by 1.3 billion tons— a 70 percent increase.
Members of the Western Caucus support President Trump’s decision and oppose this bill. This legislation is another veiled attempt to hinder President Trump's successful energy agenda.
Western Caucus Member Ken Buck (CO-04) introduced an amendment to add the language of the Green New Deal to H.R. 9 in order to get House Democrats on the record once and for all.
To view the text of Rep. Buck's amendment, click here.
To read our previous press release supporting President Trump's initial decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, click here. For more info about the House Committee on Foreign Affairs markup on H.R. 9 click here.
House Oversight and Reform Committee Climate Change and National Security Hearing
At the hearing, Democratic leadership and the witnesses argued in favor of preventing President Trump from setting up a Commission to independently reviewing the science and findings in a dubious Climate report.
Specifically, on March 5, 2019, former Secretary of State John Kerry and former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel sent a letter to President Trump regarding climate change and national security. The letter opposed President Trump creating a Commission to conduct an independent review of the Fourth National Climate Assessment.
The Fourth National Climate Assessment is the main report used by Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to advocate for the need for the Green New Deal and multiple findings form that report are included in the text of the Green New Deal bill.
On March 18th more than 125 scientists, climate experts and leaders on energy and environment issues sent President Trump a letter urging him to set up a Commission to conduct an independent review of the Fourth National Climate Assessment. If Democratic leadership was confident in their fundamentally-flawed report written mostly by career bureaucrats from the Obama Administration, then they would have no problem allowing the science of Fourth National Climate Assessment to be analyzed and independently reviewed by a Commission. If the science from that report is factual then it will hold up under independent review.
However, Democratic leadership doesn’t want the Trump Administration to scrutinize the report because they know it is bogus, used computer models that predicted excessive warming, utilized negative impacts associated with increased warming derived from highly unrealistic scenarios and manipulated surface temperature data.
At the hearing, Democratic leadership, members and witnesses also claimed climate change is one of the most urgent national security issues facing the United States, despite recent polling from MWR Strategies that found only three percent of the American people identify the "environment" as one of the most pressing issues facing the U.S. and less than one percent specifically mentioned climate change.
For more information, witness testimony and to watch the full video of the hearing, click here.
Green New Deal
On, March 19th the Green New Deal was defeated in the United States Senate by a vote of 57 - Nay, 0 -Yea, 43 – Present. Numerous Democrats, including more than a dozen presidential candidates are coalescing around the Green New Deal in an effort to attack America's energy renaissance. The Green New Deal Resolution introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) and Senator Ed Markey (MA) is a radical agenda that has been cosponsored by more than 100 members of Congress in the House and in the Senate.
Today, Democratic Members and Secretary Kerry continued to embrace Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and the policies found in the Green New Deal. Meanwhile, Members of the Western Caucus pointed to the significant harm that would result for their communities if the Green New Deal were enacted.
To read more about the Western Caucus' efforts to fight the Green New Deal, click here.
Green New Deal Quick Facts:
- H.Res.109, by Democrat Socialist Ocasio-Cortez, is a bill that seeks to implement the GND.
- The bill calls for a 10-year national, social, industrial and economic mobilization effort.
- Proponents of the GND want all American power to come from wind, solar and batteries.
- GND footprint is large as solar & wind power need 90-100 times more space than gas.
- GND proponents want to eliminate use of hydropower, nuclear, oil, natural gas & coal.
- All gas & diesel vehicles would be replaced by electric vehicles, mass transit & high-speed trains under the GND.
- Upgrading & replacing every home & building as directed by the GND will cost $2.5 trillion in the first 10 years.
- Rail has to be laid in a straight line. Eminent domain would be used on a massive scale under the GND.
- The GND includes an expensive job guarantee.
- The GND includes an expensive housing guarantee.
- The GND includes an expensive health care guarantee.
- The GND includes an expensive education guarantee.
- The cost of the GND health care guarantee is $32 trillion in the first 10 years alone.
- The GND will cost American households $650,000 each in 10 years.
- The GND is projected to cost $93 trillion in the first 10 years alone.
- Achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as directed by the GND will cost $11 trillion in the first 10 years.
- Americans will spend $155.5 billion to replace furnaces & $11.9 billion to replace gas dryers as a result of the GND.
- Americans will spend $50 billion to replace water heaters & $26 billion to replace stoves as a result of the GND.
- The GND will cause significant harm to our health care, transportation, energy & agricultural sectors.
- The GND will significantly increase taxes for all Americans.
- The GND seeks to authorize the government to control every aspect of our lives.
- The GND aims to replace planes & combustion engines with electric cars, rail & transit.
- If the $77 billion bullet train can’t connect LA & Bay, high-speed rail can't connect rural America.
- Rep. Ocasio-Cortez attacked agriculture, cows, planes and hamburgers in pushing the GND.
- A carbon tax could end up being included in the Green New Deal.
- Ocasio-Cortez proposed economic security for all, including those unable or unwilling to work.
- The GND has no plan for the trash that will result from millions of appliances, buildings & batteries.
- Nothing in the GND specifies how this legislation will actually be paid for.
- The GND includes a liberal trade regime.
- The GND will kill 10.3 million O&G jobs, 600K aviation jobs, 1.4 million hyrdro jobs, 100,000 nuclear jobs, 50,000 coal jobs.
According to @DataProgress, the Green New Deal will:
- Ban plastic straws.
- Ban hydraulic fracturing.
- Reinstate Obama Admin's Land and Water Grab (WOTUS Rule).
- Reinstate Obama Admin's attack on baseload energy (So-called 'Clean Power Plan').
- End oil exports.
- End leases on federal lands.
- Ban groundwater irrigation by large-scale agribusiness.
- Reduce current farming practices and land use by 70% by 2050.
- Spend a lot of money on pedestrian travel, bicycle travel and mass transit.
- Allow zero-net waste by 2040.
