Lower Energy Costs Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. SALINAS. Madam Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1, the polluters over people act.

Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine demonstrated that the clean energy transition isn't just important for our planet, it is important for our national security.

It revealed the dangerous pitfalls of our overreliance on global oil and gas markets. The solution is not to deepen our reliance on fossil fuels, it is to go all in on clean, American energy. We need to ramp up solar, wind, hydrogen, and other similar projects across the country. Oregon is poised for this type of investment in development.

However, H.R. 1 doesn't do that. Instead, it repeals major clean energy programs, even going so far as to target the home electrification rebate designed to help American families make their homes energy efficient, yet another petty, retributive action by House Republicans.

This bill worsens the climate crisis and hampers our ability to produce clean energy here at home. It is a disaster in the making.

I also want to talk more specifically about my community back home. Oregon's Sixth District is home to hundreds of specialty crop farmers who grow everything from blueberries to wine grapes and hazelnuts. The farming tradition in the Willamette Valley dates back centuries. It was even publicized in the 1820s as a ``promised land of flowing milk and honey.''

Today, this land faces a serious threat. Specialty crop growers in my district recognize the imminent danger the climate crisis poses to their farming tradition. Many are already feeling the impacts of our warming planet as extreme drought, heat waves, and wildfires diminish crop yields and endanger farmers' livelihoods.

H.R. 1 would exacerbate the climate crisis, and further threaten Oregon's future. This bill would repeal key clean energy programs in favor of unmitigated fossil fuel production, leading to more emissions and harmful climate impacts.

For all these reasons and more, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this legislation.

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