Branded Blog

BRANDED: We must work together to attack emissions, not energy sources
By Rep. John Curtis (UT-03)

When I started down my journey to be a better environmental steward, I became frustrated with the extremists on both sides.
 
My friends on the far left are generally unhappy with me because of my insistence that we need fossil fuels for many years, if not forever, in our energy usage. We should be attacking emissions, not energy sources, and I have yet to hear a reasonable argument why we would “transition” away from fossil fuels as a reliable and clean energy source.
 
My friends on the far right often hate I use the “C” word at all and would prefer not talk about it. They fear that if we allow “climate policy” to be the primary focus, as opposed to a comprehensive energy strategy, we will hurt our country’s competitiveness. I agree with them in principle, but also believe it’s impossible to chart a long-term path for our country, and the world, without acknowledging the impact that too much carbon in the air is having on our planet.
 
Republicans and Democrats can, and should, come together to solve the energy problems facing our country. We’ve done this historically, from recent laws such as the Energy Act of 2020 to the more historic laws that have allowed us to have clean air and water throughout our country.
 
Our country’s success on climate policy is why I am so bothered by this vote we just took. Despite no effort by our Democratic colleagues to craft bipartisan legislation, they rubber stamped a grab bag of policies that will only divide our country more politically, while hurting us competitively.
 
The U.S. accounts for 14% of worldwide emissions. Let’s think about that for a minute. If we were to totally shut down our economy, ban air travel, abolish agriculture production, we will have accomplished nothing because Russia and China are on an unapologetic strategy of energy dominance, using none of the innovative technologies that make our energy cleaner in the United States.
 
Here’s another fact: U.S. produced Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is 40% cleaner than Russian gas. To reduce worldwide emissions, we need to lead in exporting our energy to others. U.S. natural gas is not the enemy; carbon in the air is. And it shouldn’t just be exporting our LNG. The innovation we are pushing forward through hydrogen, battery storage, CCUS, fusion, and nuclear will greatly outweigh any carbon reduction made by my Democrat colleagues' bill.
 
This bill, the Inflation Reduction Act (despite multiple studies showing it won’t reduce inflation) is not transformational. The only transformational thing about the Democrats’ tax and spending spree is how it will raise taxes and give the federal government massive command and control over our economy and in people's lives. In a twist of irony, the bill will tax and audit the middle class to give money to the Democrat’s preferred large corporations to invest in decarbonization. We should be protecting the middle class from increased energy costs, not using them to subsidize corporate tax credits.
 
There are serious bipartisan issues we can address: NEPA, permitting reform, and addressing methane emissions in a way that incentivizes the capture of methane instead of flaring it, especially for the smaller oil producers.
 
I worry that on energy policy we are moving in the wrong direction. I am all for finding solutions to our energy and climate questions, but we have to have everyone at the table, and we must work together to get there.