'Are You Serious? This Is America!': Scott Perry Goes Nuclear On Renewable Energy, Pushes To Defund

Forbes Breaking News

During House floor remarks on Thursday, Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) introduced an amendment to completely defund the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Transcript

00:0032, for what purposes does the gentleman from Pennsylvania seek recognition?

00:03Mr. Chairman, I rise as the designee for the gentleman from Texas, and I have an amendment at the desk.

00:08The clerk will designate the amendment.

00:11Amendment number 32, printed in-house report number 119-232, offered by Mr. Perry of Pennsylvania.

00:19Pursuant to Resolution 672, the gentleman from Pennsylvania, Mr. Perry, and a member opposed,

00:24will each control five minutes. The gentleman recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

00:28Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This amendment fully defunds DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and

00:34Renewable Energy, or the EERE. This amendment is offered because we simply cannot continue to fund

00:41the destruction, and that's what it is, the destruction of the U.S. energy grid to satisfy

00:48a climate cult. The FY 2024 minibus gave this office $3.5 billion, while the underlying bill cuts funding

00:57down to $1.96 billion, we need to defund it entirely. Like, why are we fooling around here,

01:04taking half of it? Like, this thing doesn't do anything good for anybody. This office's mission

01:10under the last administration was to, and I quote, equitably transition America to net zero greenhouse

01:17gas emissions economy, economy-wide by no later than 2050. What does that mean? Net zero. What that means

01:24is everything that you see, the clothing you're wearing, the car you're driving, the cell phone you

01:29use, that all disappears in America, because we can't make any of that stuff, because it requires

01:34emissions. Oh, but we'll still have it, so we'll just offshore that stuff to everybody else, including

01:39China. Brilliant plan. So, if we look at wind and solar, it funds wind and solar, which are actively

01:45destroying the power grid. They are the least reliable sources of power, and the most expensive.

01:51Nobody would use them, and no one would produce them if they weren't subsidized by your tax dollars.

01:56EVs, it funds zero-emission vehicles that only the wealthy can afford, and supply change dominated by

02:04China. It actively promotes divisive concepts like energy equity and environmental justice,

02:10which allocate tax dollars based on immutable characteristics. Are you serious? This is America?

02:18While we successfully ushered in the end of the Inflation Reduction Act, we've got to continue,

02:23because there's plenty more to do. Over 90 percent of the subsidies from this organization

02:28went to corporations that make over one billion dollars per year.

02:32I'm going to tell you who's going to defend it, not me. People over there, some people over here,

02:37but not me. One billion dollars per year. These subsidies could make wind and solar account for

02:43nearly 60 percent of U.S. electricity generation by 2050. People say, well, that's great. Isn't that

02:49good? Well, it's good if you don't care if you can't turn the lights on, because the wind's not

02:54blowing and the sun's not shining. We're going to have rolling brownouts and blackouts, because that's

02:58what's going to happen. And like in California, Americans in the 21st century are going to become

03:04used to, we're going to normalize living in the 7th century instead. Of course, all this makes us

03:10wholly dependent on China for our power. With that, Mr. Chairman, I will reserve the balance.

03:17The gentleman from Pennsylvania reserves. For what purpose does the gentleman from Tennessee seek

03:22recognition? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I seek time in opposition. You were recognized for five minutes.

03:29I thank the chairman. Mr. Chairman, I share some of my distinguished colleagues concerned about EERE,

03:36but let me, for the record, lay some things out. EERE, and I'm a strong supporter of EERE,

03:44received over $16 billion from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, of which there are billions

03:54in unobligated balances remaining. So in other words, they got a ton of money in these big,

04:00largesse bills that were passed by the last administration. $16 billion, and they can't spend

04:06it all. That's why in the House bill, we've reduced funding to EERE by $1.6 billion below the fiscal

04:162025 level. They had money they couldn't even get to spend. And again, I want to say, I am a strong,

04:23strong supporter of EERE. I've seen the work they do, tremendous job, but they got all of that money in

04:29those largesse spending bills. This reduces EERE spending to levels since 2013. But I respectfully

04:42think my colleague's amendment goes too far in eliminating this program. Again, things that EERE

04:50does well, geothermal technologies, advanced manufacturing, and industrial efficiency improvements.

04:57So it also includes essential work on critical materials that will lay out the groundwork for

05:04technologies that will reduce our reliance on foreign supplies. So I think EERE is an issue that

05:12we all can support. The reductions are there. I think this strikes a very good balance. And for this

05:18reason, I must respectfully oppose my colleague's motion. Thank you. Yield back.

05:23The gentleman in reserves. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized.

05:28Mr. Chairman, President Trump won the election and requested that Congress slash the funding for

05:34this office. This amendment does exactly that and deals with this out-of-control agency. Historically,

05:42this office was responsible for some of the most egregious rules regulating the lives of America,

05:47Americans. Previous regulatory actions undertaken include air cleaners, fans and blowers, dehumidifiers,

05:56commercial clothes washers, conventional cooking tops. Who in the hell do these people think they

06:02are? Like, we're Americans. We ought to be able to choose whatever we want to, yet they tell us what we

06:07can have and what we can't have. I'm not sure what country you think you live in or what it should be,

06:13but it shouldn't be this. I still urge adoption of this amendment and I yield the balance. The gentleman yields the

06:19gentleman.

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