Fox’s first appearance: A report from the House Oversight and Accountability Committee says America’s energy future is “under threat” by Biden administration policies that will “stymie the growth of domestic energy production” and create additional costs for Americans. .
The report, titled “The Biden Administration’s Green New Deal: Paying More for a Dim Future,” aims to show that the administration’s energy policies, released Thursday, are contributing to higher gasoline prices, uncertainty in the U.S. power sector and confusion over new cars and appliances. Costly regulatory hurdles are increasing costs for U.S. consumers and businesses.
The 32-page report was first obtained by Fox News Digital and was obtained before the Department of Energy. Appearing before the House Oversight Committee, Jennifer Granholm criticized the Biden administration for its “shortsighted energy policy” and failure to “recognize America’s energy potential.”
“The Administration insists it will pursue policies aimed at promoting electrification while simultaneously stifling the potential for the growth of power generators needed to support these efforts. Tolerating challenges threatens access to resources and the ability to bring new generating infrastructure online. And massive, costly new regulations stifle innovation and growth, and undermine economic growth,” the report states. “The report details major challenges facing vital sectors of the U.S. economy that have been exacerbated by the Biden Administration’s shortsighted energy policies and the resulting impacts on American businesses and consumers.”
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From left to right: Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, House Oversight Chairman James Comer, and President Biden. (Getty Images)
House Oversight Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said the Biden administration has “weaponized” the executive branch to “wage war” on domestic energy production.
“The Biden Administration is weaponizing executive power to wage war on American-made energy production, solidifying a radical, far-left energy policy that will jeopardize domestic energy development, overload the U.S. power grid, and raise costs for all American consumers and businesses,” Comer told Fox News Digital.
“Since day one, the House Oversight Committee has worked to expose the Biden Administration’s radical climate change policies,” he added. “The committee will continue to uphold its responsibility to hold the current administration accountable for the harmful Green New Deal policies that are impacting Americans across the country.”
This report begins with Rising gas prices Gasoline prices have been rising steadily since 2019. The report blames the Biden administration, saying it has “abandoned America’s energy potential and eroded consumer purchasing power through rising production and transportation costs, expensive regulatory measures, and supply manipulation, solely to garner support for radical environmentalists.”
Citing AAA National Gasoline Average data, the report outlines how gas prices have soared compared to when former President Donald Trump was in the White House.
Citing data from the AAA National Gas Average, the report outlines how gasoline prices have skyrocketed since former President Donald Trump was in the White House. (Roberto Machado Noah/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“The day after President Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021, the price of gasoline was $2.39 a gallon. On February 25, 2022, the day after Russia invaded Ukraine, the national average price of a gallon of gasoline was already It had reached $3.57, despite President Biden’s protestations that Russia was solely responsible for domestic fuel inflation. Gasoline prices were already high and rising under the Biden administration. “On June 14, 2022, the national average gasoline price soared to an all-time high, with the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline reaching $5.016,” the report said.
The report goes on to say, “When President Trump took office in January 2017, the average price of gasoline was $2.47 per gallon. Over his entire four-year term, the average was slightly higher at $2.57. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, retail gasoline prices never averaged more than $3.039 per week during President Trump’s term.
The report also criticized Biden’s “misguided actions” on gasoline prices, saying, “To avoid political backlash, he has misused government resources such as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to seek to manipulate gasoline prices in the short term. I did,” he claimed.
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The report also noted that rising electricity prices are leading to reduced grid stability.
“The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that electricity prices have increased faster than any other commodity over the past year, outpacing the rate of inflation.”Massive electrification initiatives such as electric vehicles (EVs) in the auto sector “The increased use of artificial intelligence, massive data center expansion, and federal incentives for domestic manufacturing in the industrial sector have dramatically increased the demands facing the U.S. power grid,” the report states. .
The oversight report highlighted that the Biden administration is imposing “stricter energy requirements” on several products, including gas stoves, light bulbs, dishwashers, clothes dryers, washing machines and refrigerators. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto, Getty Images)
“Even with improvements in usage efficiency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that electricity demand by U.S. utilities will continue to grow at an average rate of 1% per year through 2050,” the report added.
The report also notes the Biden administration’s efforts to eliminate consumer choice, calling for “50 percent of all new cars and light trucks sold in 2030 to be zero-emission vehicles, including battery electric vehicles. He pointed to an executive order enacted by the president with the goal of Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or fuel cell electric vehicle. ”
“EVs accounted for about 7.6% of U.S. auto sales in 2023, but an even smaller share of all vehicles on the nation’s roads. The stricter emissions standards introduced by President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency are the “most ambitious pollution standards ever for cars and trucks” and aim to fundamentally reshape the auto market to favor EVs,” the report said.
The report also highlighted that the Biden administration is imposing “stricter energy requirements” on several products, including gas stoves, light bulbs, dishwashers, clothes dryers, washing machines and refrigerators.
Finally, the report accused the Biden administration of pursuing “a ‘whole-of-government’ regulatory explosion that will result in significant compliance costs for businesses and consumers.”
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Thursday. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“The Biden Administration has already imposed additional regulatory costs totaling more than $1 trillion across all government agencies, as well as millions of hours of new annual paperwork requirements,” the committee report said.
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“As the regulatory onslaught grows more complex, those most affected are low-income communities through higher electricity and vehicle costs, and those with fixed incomes based on savings and investments (e.g., retirees), through climate change disclosure mandates and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rules that discourage returns,” the report continued. “As corporations shift tax liabilities onto consumers, regulatory compliance acts as an additional ‘hidden tax’ that affects both consumer prices and wages.”
“Forcing businesses to spend more and more resources dealing with increasingly increasing and complex regulatory burdens takes time and money away from promoting business growth and economic mobility.” added.
FOX News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report.
