Rep. Jeff Duncan: Restore American Energy Dominance
As one of the most important topics facing our country, energy security is slated to be a top priority both for the Energy & Commerce Committee and for House Republicans. Last week marked the first full committee meeting for the House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce in the 118th Congress, and as expected domestic energy production was the main focus. Representative Jeff Duncan (R-SC), chairman of the Energy, Climate & Grid Security Subcommittee, delivered the opening remarks about unleashing American energy.
Rep. Duncan acknowledged just how abundant our domestic natural resources are. The U.S. is a global leader in crude oil and natural gas development, especially fueled by the private sector. Though America leads in this production, we are also leading the world in emission reductions, thanks to the shale revolution. Rep. Duncan notes, “It is estimated that the shale revolution saved US consumers $203 billion dollars annually, breaking down to $2,500 dollars for a family of four… It also lowered energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by 527 million metric tons per year, the most in the world.”
However positive the shale revolution has been to our economy, American energy security is now threatened by the Biden administration’s agenda that “discourages investment,” employing a “top-down aggressive regulatory approach” that obstructs our energy construction and production. With that in mind, Rep. Duncan believes the aim of Republicans on the committee is to create a regulatory structure that encourages investment and innovation, rather than hamstringing it.
Rep. Duncan also touches on another important part of American energy that the GAIN Coalition has continually illustrated. He says, “energy security is national security and our ability to export plays an important role in this.”
As we have seen in Europe, relying on hostile nations for energy provides those leaders with enormous influence and power. Though the U.S. has significantly increased LNG exports to Europe over the last year, we must increase domestic production, as well as investment in energy infrastructure, to expand our capacity and continue supporting our allies. As Rep. Duncan puts it, “the best way to decrease the leverage of OPEC and Russia and the best weapon against Putin is more U.S. energy production.”
Rep. Duncan’s commonsense points are both refreshing and encouraging for an energy sector that has been under the yoke of a burdensome regulatory system. Now more than ever, with a war in Europe affecting the global energy market’s volatility and an apparent understanding that rushing green energy technologies is not the best short-term strategy, we must step up and unleash American energy. This starts with supporting domestic infrastructure projects to be coupled with an increase in energy production.