H.J. Res. 131

Floor Speech

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Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I also rise today to oppose the effort to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to permanent, irreversible damage from the Big Oil industry.

This effort to overthrow the Biden administration's Record of Decision for the management of the Arctic Refuge through the Congressional Review Act process will sow chaos, create legal uncertainty, and put the refuge into limbo. But we do have some certainty. Republicans know this will put our last most wild place at risk. It will put the rare caribou, polar bears, and wildlife that call the refuge home at risk. The Gwich'in people have said over and over that it puts their way of life at risk.

But this vote would also put business and legal certainty at risk-- years of confusion, lawsuits, and paralysis all from this unnecessary resolution. And for what? This fossil fuel fiasco has been rejected time and time again by insurers, major banks, and oil and gas companies. They have said they won't finance development in the refuge. They are even paid to get out of leases. Two failed lease sales, one of which was held under President Trump, should have been the end of this political theater, but they persist. And even before drilling, any fossil fuel exploration in the refuge will leave scars that will last for generations.

Instead of tackling our affordability crisis, instead of fighting the climate crisis, instead of protecting healthcare programs or fighting for the needs of special education students, this is what Republicans want to work on--an attempted favor for Big Oil executives.

This CRA resolution would jeopardize the Arctic Refuge--the greatest intact wildlife refuge in our Nation. It would jeopardize our chance at a livable future, and it would jeopardize the Gwich'in people's way of life.

Our public lands belong in public hands. Yesterday, the President of the United States, with the auto industry of our country standing behind him, signed a new resolution saying that we are not going to try to increase fuel economy standards in our Nation. Do you know what the consequence of that is? They want to just put a big gas station up in the Arctic Refuge, and we will just start drilling for more oil because we don't want to make our vehicles more efficient. We are going to cede the future of all-electric vehicles to the Chinese and just pull out of the race rather than compete with them. At the same time, they are saying we will drill; that we will drill for oil in the most precious part of our national public lands. It is an absolute disgrace.

We are a technological giant. To give up on our ability to be able to make these vehicles more efficient is a death sentence for the most precious and vulnerable areas in our Nation. It is completely and totally irresponsible, immoral, and it is going to wind up with scarred oilfields all across these refuges that, unfortunately, were completely and totally avoidable.

Yesterday, President Trump signed, in many ways, the death warrant for all of these precious areas in our country because he pulled out of the race to increase the fuel economy standards--where we put the oil in the vehicles that we drive.

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