Morgan Griffith on Energy and Ecology

From U.S. Representative Morgan Griffith, R-Va-9:

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October 28, 2022 Dear Ms. King,      Thank you for contacting me regarding energy and environmental policy. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.      As always, we need to balance the needs of the country. I support common sense policies that safeguard our ability to have clean air and clean water while advancing our country's economic health.      I believe any effective plan to counter climate change must be based in science, rely on America’s technological strengths and bountiful natural resources, and have a global vision. I have supported policies that meet these criteria. First, any plan to reduce carbon emissions needs to rely on accurate scientific data and predictions. Second, a plan to reduce America’s carbon emissions should embrace our vast supply of natural resources and our talent for technological innovation, national strengths that powered our economic rise. Finally, America must be a leader for cleaner energy in a world that still depends on fossil fuels.       H.R. 1512 set targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce has held multiple hearings looking at topics included in this all-encompassing legislation, many of which attempt to justify spending and enact parts of the Green New Deal.      One witness invited by the majority mentioned in her testimony that an energy policy based around renewables would require the massive expansion of the continent’s high-voltage electric grid. That means more high-voltage lines crisscrossing the country – using eminent domain to take people’s land. Further the costs of building those lines will be paid by you, the consumer, through higher rates.       I asked her if such a project would take “twenty to thirty years at a minimum,” and she replied, “Yes.” This means their targets of 2030 and 2050 are impossible to meet.      Instead, we can pursue practical energy policies rooted in innovation that solve environmental challenges while supporting economic growth. Choosing such a course would be heeding the lessons of this series of hearings.      The United States is already leading the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through innovation and technological development. We should be focused on continuing to reduce emissions, developing and exporting clean energy technologies, and making our communities more resilient, all while ensuring affordable and reliable energy prices.      Green New Deal-style plans expect us to dismantle our economy and fundamentally alter our lifestyle to cut carbon emissions. But how would it change the behavior of China, the world’s largest polluter, or India, another rising economy emitting increased carbon? It is illogical to think that developing nations are going to impoverish their people by not using fossil fuels. In fact, China’s current five-year plan scales up the use of coal operations. If our policies force businesses overseas, in order to compete in the world economy, they relocate to countries that have far fewer regulations or concerns about the environment.  Our jobs go overseas and air pollution in the world actually increases.  Everything released in the atmosphere affects us all. Accordingly, as a nation we must balance all of these important concerns.      As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, please know that I will keep your thoughts in mind both in my committee work and when I have the opportunity to vote on legislation affecting our national environmental and energy policy in the House of Representatives.       For more information on what is happening in Congress, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov. If I may be of further assistance to you on this, or any other issue, please feel free to contact me in my Washington, DC office at (202) 225-3861.  I remain     Sincerely yours, H. MORGAN GRIFFITH Member of Congress

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I spent a few hours typing an Editorial Comment. Google didn't like that comment! Whoops! The connection broke just as I hit "publish" and the comment was lost! Well, it was long enough to be a separate post anyway....even if the separate post appears above the letter.