During a House Appropriations Committee markup meeting before the Congressional recess, Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) spoke about funding for renewable energy.
00:00Gentleman from California, Mr. Levin, is recognized for an amendment.
00:06Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk and ask unanimous consent to dispense with its reading.
00:10Without objection, the reading of the amendment is dispensed with, and the gentleman is recognized for remarks on his amendment.
00:17Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
00:18This amendment is about ensuring the Bureau of Land Management can carry out its responsibilities efficiently for all energy types.
00:26There are currently more than 60 utility-scale solar, wind, and geothermal projects under active review by the BLM.
00:35That represents over 25 gigawatts of proposed clean energy capacity, which is poised to unlock billions of dollars in private investment,
00:44particularly in rural areas of California, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and other western states.
00:51Many of these communities rely on the revenue from these projects for infrastructure, schools, and emergency services.
00:58And with federal permitting required to move forward, timelines really matter.
01:03Turning now to the appropriations that help carry out energy permitting and help get these projects built.
01:10The oil, gas, and coal permitting offices received $118 million last year.
01:16This year, that number is increasing in this bill to $130 million.
01:22That's a $12 million boost.
01:24The Renewable Energy Office, meanwhile, is being cut in this bill from $40 million down to $10 million.
01:31That's a 75% reduction.
01:34So again, oil and gas goes from $118 million up to $130 million, and renewable goes from $40 million down to $10 million.
01:42It's obviously a serious imbalance.
01:44The amendment that I'm proposing does not add any new spending.
01:49It simply shifts the $12 million increase from fossil permitting over to the Renewable Office.
01:56Fossil permitting stays fully funded at last year's level of $118 million.
02:02No change.
02:03Renewable permitting moves to $22 million, which is still a 45% cut from last year, but far more workable.
02:11Permitting staff are already stretched thin.
02:14And recently, the department added new steps to the permitting process for solar and wind, requiring personal sign-off by the secretary.
02:21That may be a policy choice that some of you agree with.
02:24Maybe some don't.
02:25I do not.
02:26But either way, more process means more work, and more work requires people to get the job done.
02:32If the Renewable Office doesn't have capacity, these projects stall.
02:37That means delayed job creation, lost investment, and missed opportunities for energy development in communities that are counting on it.
02:44Again, in all of our states.
02:46This isn't about picking one energy source over another.
02:50It's about keeping all permitting offices properly funded so that government works the way it should.
02:57Again, this amendment does not cut funding for fossil permitting by one penny.
03:02It uses the increase proposed for fossil permitting to ensure the Renewable Office isn't left unable to function.
03:09And accordingly, this amendment does not raise some of these spending concerns or create any of the 302B issues as raised with other amendments.
03:16This is a modest adjustment that helps keep projects moving and reflects shared priorities, energy development, efficiency, and economic growth.
03:26I urge my colleagues to support the amendment.
03:29Thank you, and I'll yield back.
03:31Thank the gentleman.
03:33The gentleman from Idaho, Mr. Simpson, is recognized to respond to the amendment.
03:37Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
03:38I thank the gentleman for actually finding an offset, even though I disagree with the offset.
03:44So, consequently, I'm going to rise in opposition to this amendment.
03:48The Interior Bill funds programs that champion American energy dominance.
03:52This bill supports the President's strategy to unleash American energy, create jobs, and enhance our national security.
03:58We embraced opportunities to support the administration's requested increases to the Bureau of Land Management, oil, gas, and coal development activities.
04:06For so long, the prior administration hamstrung our fossil fuel industry from burdensome regulations to de facto bans.
04:16Our fossil resources were not able to be harnessed.
04:20I, too, am a fan of an all-of-the-above energy strategy, and unfortunately, we're now playing catch-up after the prior administration's attempted ban on fossil fuels.
04:31So, I cannot support this amendment that robs Peter to pay Paul, and I'm not opposed to wind and solar power by any stretch of the imagination.
04:41It's appropriate in the right places.
04:43We found one place in Idaho, and it took us four years to try to ban it in this place, where they wanted to put wind towers.
04:49They would have been taller than the Space Needle, 144 of them.
04:53It would have impinged on the Japanese internment camp memorial in southeast Idaho.
05:03But the prior administration just wanted to push forward.
05:07There was not one person, this is a community, probably in the valley of maybe 100,000 people.
05:13Not one person in four years came up to me and said, yeah, we need to move forward with this project.
05:18Everybody was opposed to it, but they just wanted to push forward because it was renewable energy.
05:24It was wind power.
05:26So, wind power is right, and the right is fine in the right places and appropriate places.
05:33Same thing with solar.
05:34The problem with solar is it's intermittent also, in that it runs into a problem about 12 hours a day on a normal day.
05:42The sun sets.
05:43We need more baseload, and that's what's happening here.
05:48And when you do these digital centers, these data centers that are being built all over the country, they need power all the time, not intermittent power.
05:56So, I think we did the right thing in this bill, moving in the right direction of an all-of-the-above energy policy.
06:03And so, I would encourage my members to vote against this amendment, and I yield back.
06:07Thank you, gentlemen, gentlelady from Maine, Ms. Penguins, recognized to address the amendment.
06:14Thank you, Mr. Chair.
06:15I rise in support of this amendment, and I thank the gentlemen for submitting it.
06:18On day one, the Trump administration said, we are experiencing an energy emergency, but they also said we won't fund wind and solar.
06:26It is totally short-sighted to not use all the tools in the toolbox.
06:31In 2024, solar and wind energy combined accounted for 17 percent of total U.S. energy electricity generation.
06:41Stifling clean energy development increases utility bills for Americans.
06:46According to Center for American Progress, investments in clean energy, electrification, and efficiency will save the average household $500 annually in reduced energy costs.
06:56It is ludicrous that this administration has decided to shut down wind and solar.
07:01They're backing up on this.
07:03I support this gentleman's amendment, and I hope that we can move forward on this.
07:07And I yield back.
07:14Gentleman from West Virginia is recognized to address the amendment.
07:18Mr. Chairman, I'm going to strike the last word.
07:27I just wanted to speak just briefly on something we adopted earlier, the manager's amendment specifically.
07:35We went through it very quickly, so I wasn't able to speak to it.
07:38So I just want to point something out that we've talked a lot about water in here through this markup.
07:45And one thing I wanted to highlight is the work that I did with Chairman Simpson on part of an amendment that was included in that manager's amendment.
07:55And myself and Carol Miller, Congresswoman in the 1st Congressional District of West Virginia, we worked on language to shine a light on the ongoing water crisis that is going on in West Virginia.
08:06Today, there are American citizens living in Wyoming County and McDowell counties without access to clean water.
08:16This is a little depiction of this.
08:18It's kind of hard to believe.
08:20And the people of communities like Bradshaw and Oceana turn on their kitchen sinks and their bathtubs and their washing machines and only have them to fill up with brown, rancid smelling water.
08:31So hard to believe.
08:33This is not a coffee maker.
08:34This is a washing machine.
08:37Hard to believe.
08:38This is the type of water that they're getting right now out of their public water systems.
08:46And so with that, this is certainly unacceptable.
08:52And so no parent should ever have to wonder why they're going to be able to ensure clean drinking water for their children and their community.
09:00This is something that we've suffered with in the southern coal fields of West Virginia for quite a long time.
09:06But my amendment requires the Environmental Protection Agency to break through the logjam.
09:12A lot of finger pointing has been going on.
09:14And to break through that logjam, the various government agencies to get to the bottom of the situation, it requires the EPA to brief the committee on what resources it has for communities like those in southern West Virginia so we can end this clean water crisis.
09:29So there is really no point in having something called an Environmental Protection Agency if it is unable or unwilling to address plumes or orange bacteria in the drinking water of actual human beings.
09:42And I'm grateful to Chairman Simpson for working to include this in the manager's amendment.
09:48And when we get to this part, I certainly urge all my colleagues to vote for this bill.
09:53It's going to go a long way to help those communities in the southern coal fields.
09:56And I thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
09:58I yield back.
09:59Thank the gentleman.
10:01Is there further members wishing to address the amendment?
10:06Seeing none, the gentleman is recognized for one minute to close.
10:09Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
10:11A couple of thoughts.
10:13One is that Secretary Burgum can shut down any solar or wind project that he doesn't like.
10:20And point number two is that all we're asking for is $118 million for oil, gas, fossil, and $22 million for renewable.
10:30It's still six to one, roughly.
10:32And under Biden, it was three to one.
10:34It was roughly $118 million versus about $40 million.
10:37So the thought that somehow fossil was getting shortchanged is simply incorrect.
10:43The other thing I would say is I want energy dominance, too.
10:48I don't want to lose all those jobs.
10:50I don't want to lose those jobs in California.
10:52I don't want to lose those jobs in Arizona.
10:55I don't want to lose those jobs in Idaho and all the other states in Nevada.
11:00Those jobs are going to go away if we cannot site and permit those projects.
11:03These are good projects.
11:05These are good American jobs, high-skilled, high-wage jobs.
11:09All we're saying is just keep funding where it is at the $118 million for fossil.
11:15Everybody can do all their hard work for those projects and still get those projects cited, permitted, and built.
11:22But don't kneecap the renewable, particularly over politics.
11:27Jobs are jobs, Mr. Chairman.
11:29Jobs are jobs whether in Idaho.
11:31Jobs are jobs in California.
11:33Jobs are jobs in Nevada, Arizona.
11:35I don't know why we're politicizing this.
11:38And we're asking for something very modest here, some basic fairness, basic equity,
11:43and conceding a 45% reduction in the funding amount for renewable.
11:5045% reduction while keeping a 6-to-1 for fossil.
11:56And you won't even agree to that.
11:59What will you agree to?
12:00And as far as the intermittency argument, I hear that.
12:03But we also have storage that helps a lot of those projects become baseload projects.
12:08And with that, I'll yield back.
12:09Thank you, gentlemen.
12:12The question is now on the amendment offered by the gentleman from California.
12:16All those in favor, say aye.
12:18Aye.
12:19All those opposed, say no.
12:21No.
12:22In the opinion of the chair, the no's have it.
12:25Roll call has been requested.
12:26Sufficient number of hands have been raised.
12:28Clerk will call the roll.
12:29Mr. Adderholt.
12:30Mr. Adderholt, no.
12:31Mr. Aguilar.
12:33Mr. Alford.
12:34Mr. Alford, no.
12:36Mr. Amaday.
12:37Mr. Amaday, no.
12:38Mrs. Bice.
12:40Mrs. Bice, no.
12:41Mr. Bishop.
12:43Mr. Calvert.
12:44No.
12:45Mr. Calvert, no.
12:47Mr. Carter.
12:48Mr. Carter, no.
12:50Mr. Case.
12:51Mr. Case, aye.
12:52Mr. Siskimani.
12:54Mr. Klein.
12:56Mr. Cloud.
12:58Mr. Cloud, no.
12:59Mr. Clyburn.
13:00Mr. Clyburn, aye.
13:02Mr. Clyde.
13:03Mr. Clyde, no.
13:04Mr. Cole, no.
13:05Mr. Cole, no.
13:06Mr. Cuellar.
13:10Ms. Dean.
13:11Ms. Dean, aye.
13:12Mr. Loro.
13:13Aye.
13:13Mr. Loro, aye.
13:14Mr. Diaz-Balart.
13:15Mr. Diaz-Balart, no.
13:17Mr. Edwards.
13:18Mr. Edwards, no.
13:19Mr. Elzey.
13:20No.
13:20Mr. Elzey, no.
13:21Ms. Escobar.
13:23Ms. Escobar, aye.
13:24Mr. Espayat.
13:25Aye.
13:25Mr. Espayat, aye.
13:27Mr. Fleischman.
13:27Aye.
13:28Mr. Fleischman, no.
13:29Ms. Frankel.
13:32Ms. Frankel, aye.
13:33Mr. Franklin.
13:35No.
13:35Mr. Franklin, no.
13:36Mr. Gonzalez.
13:37Mr. Gonzalez, no.
13:39Mr. Guest.
13:40No.
13:41Mr. Guest, no.
13:42Mr. Harder.
13:43Mr. Harder, aye.
13:45Dr. Harris.
13:46Dr. Harris, no.
13:48Mrs. Hinson.
13:49No.
13:49Mrs. Hinson, no.
13:50Mr. Hoyer.
13:53Mr. Ivy.
13:56Mr. Joyce.
13:59Ms. Kaptor.
14:00Aye.
14:01Ms. Kaptor, aye.
14:02Mr. Leloda.
14:03No.
14:03Mr. Leloda, no.
14:05Ms. Lee.
14:06Ms. Lee, aye.
14:07Ms. Letlow.
14:09Ms. Letlow, no.
14:10Mr. Levin.
14:11Aye.
14:11Mr. Levin, aye.
14:12Ms. Malloy.
14:13No.
14:14Ms. Malloy, no.
14:15Ms. McCollum.
14:16Aye.
14:16Ms. McCollum, aye.
14:17Ms. Ming.
14:18Ms. Ming, aye.
14:19Mr. Molinar.
14:20No.
14:21Mr. Molinar, no.
14:22Mr. Moore.
14:23No.
14:24Mr. Moore, no.
14:25Mr. Morelli.
14:26Aye.
14:26Mr. Morelli, aye.
14:27Mr. Morvan.
14:29Aye.
14:29Mr. Morvan, aye.
14:30mr. Newhouse mr. Newhouse no miss Perez miss Pingree miss Pingree no miss
14:39Pingree I mr. Pocan mr. Pocan mr. Pocan I mr. Quigley mr. Quigley I mr.
14:52Russian Thaler mr. Russian Thaler no mr. Rogers mr. Rogers no mr. Rutherford mr.
14:58Rutherford no mr. Simpson mr. Simpson no mr. Strong mrs. Torres mrs. Torres I miss
15:09Underwood miss Underwood I mr. Valadao mr. Valadao no miss Wasserman Schultz
15:15miss Wasserman Schultz I mrs. Watson Coleman mrs. Watson Coleman I mr.
15:19Womack mr. Womack no mr. Zinke are there any members wishing to vote or record
15:28their vote all right or change their vote gentlemen from Georgia mr.
15:32Bishop I gentleman from California mr. Aguilar I gentleman from Maryland
15:37mr. I the other gentleman from Maryland gentleman your eye gentleman from
15:43Virginia mr. Klein no gentleman of Alabama mr. Strong no gentleman from Ohio mr.
15:55Joyce no yes she did okay are there other members wishing to vote or change their
16:12vote a non clerk will tally
16:42on this vote the eyes are 26 the nose are 33 the amendment is not
16:47adopted
16:54on this vote the eyes are 26 the nose are 33 the amendment is not adopted
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