Energy Subcommittee Hearing: Powering America’s Future: Unleashing American Energy
2025-02-05
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Source: Congress.gov
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Transcript
Well, good morning. I'd like to call the subcommittee on energy will come to order and the chair recognize himself for five minutes for opening statement. I want to thank all of our witnesses for being with us today and today's hearing on Powering America's Future, Unleashing American Energy. Today, we're discussing the state of our nation's energy system, reviewing Biden administration's actions that have undermined our economic and national security. But most important, looking forward to how our subcommittee will meet our ever-expanding need for more energy. In the last Congress, I asked every witness that appeared before us in this subcommittee the same question. Do we need more energy or less energy? And all of those witnesses all responded by saying we need more. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects the United States will consume record amounts of electricity in 2024 and 2025. The Department of Energy's Berkeley Lab estimates that U.S. data center load growth, which already encompasses half the data centers in the world, is projected to double or triple by the year 2028. Last Congress, we heard extensive testimony for grid experts and operators about the impacts of the burdens of regulations like the Clean Power Plan 2.0 that will drive out resources that are essential to keeping the lights on and our economy flowing. Households and businesses alike continue to struggle under high energy prices that have followed excessive federal spending and anti-fossil fuel policy decisions of the Biden administration. In 2008, House Republicans first showcased the all-of-the-above energy strategy that supports this diverse mix of energy sources without the government picking winners or losers, which is better for meeting demand and better for the environment.
Intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind have a role to play in a diverse energy mix. However, we must maintain our baseload power that is delivered from fossil fuels, nuclear, and hydropower. While resources are strained, the next generation economy will require massive amounts of reliable, affordable, and abundant energy. My district in Ohio is home to over 86,000 manufacturing jobs and is seeing the data center energy demand arrive. When it comes to winning the AI race, all energy solutions need to be on the table. Small modular nuclear reactors, traditional nuclear power, intermittent renewables, batteries, natural gas, fuel cells, just to name a few. But our nation's energy future is at a turning point and the world's not going to wait for us. Adversarial nations actively seek to exploit our energy demand to undermine our position on the world stage. Unfortunately, misguided actions from the Biden administration, like the LNG export ban, handicap diplomatic tools of energy abundance. Instead, the Biden's administration's electrification or nothing in the rush to green approach has only emboldened adversaries like communist China who manipulate critical mineral markets and limit experts of key materials for our manufacturing sector and defense industrial base. Meanwhile, China is delving down on their efforts to gain a leadership position in the global race for AI development in the next generation economy. Here's the good news. It's a new day in America, and President Trump has led a necessary reset of our national energy strategy. As we look to the future of our nation's energy needs, this step can be essential to ensure our electric grid is secure against physical and cyber attacks and natural disasters. will unlock our abundant resources through permitting reforms that can ensure innovations and advancements are happening here in America. We'll build on the bipartisan success of the ADVANCE Act and the Nuclear Fuel Security Act to usher in next-generation nuclear, discuss innovative solutions for spent fuel like recycling and storage, and expand America's nuclear fuel infrastructure to restore our global nuclear leadership.
This committee must address the growing energy demand and all the issues that come with it. I look forward to the constructive dialogue today as we embark on a path to reassert North American energy dominance. And with that, I yield 30 seconds to my friend, the gentleman from Colorado's 8th District.
I'm proud to introduce Mr. Gary Arnold, who serves as the business manager of the Pipe Fiddle's Local Union 208 based out of Denver, Colorado. Local 208 represents almost 2,000 highly skilled jobs and hardworking journeymen and women, many of whom live and work in my district. And Local 208 also covers all of my district.
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