Consumer-Driven Energy Policy

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CASTEN. Madam Speaker, I am incredibly proud today to introduce the Clean Electricity and Transmission Acceleration Act with my friend, Congressman Mike Levin, to remove the financial and regulatory barriers that are delaying the clean and cheap energy transition.

For too long, U.S. energy policy has been focused on putting the interests of energy producers and exporters first, which is good for a small minority of Americans, but is actually opposed to the interests of a majority of us who are energy consumers.

Here is the thing: every new wind turbine, every solar panel, every geothermal plant, and every hydro plant is a threat to oil, gas, and coal producers who cannot compete against free. Every EV charger, every heat pump, and every LED light is a threat to people who make money off inefficiency. However, for consumers to realize those benefits and entrepreneurs to access those markets, we need wires to connect new generations to new loads.

So over the last year, Congressman Levin and I have worked with our colleagues across the Democratic Caucus to develop a consumer-focused energy policy that makes that possible, to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, to accelerate Americans' access to cheap energy, and to refocus U.S. energy policy on the interests of energy consumers where it belongs.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source