Katie Porter: “Our country needs energy to flourish. Democrats know that means authorizing energy projects. The law requires…”

“Our country needs energy to flourish. Democrats know that means authorizing energy projects. The law requires corporations to engage with communities, follow our bedrock environmental principles, and ultimately advance projects that offer greater benefits than costs. Whether it is oil, natural gas, solar, or wind, the standard is the same. We shouldn't move forward until we know that the project delivers for consumers, taxpayers, and communities. Unfortunately, H.R. 1 would eliminate that determination and instead put corporate interests like Big Oil in charge of what energy projects get authorized. H.R. 1, the polluters over people act, gives billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded subsidies to big oil and gas. It would let fossil fuel companies hoard thousands of unused leases, require the authorization of drilling on federally protected lands, give unilateral authority to corporations to create their own environmental impact statements, and force taxpayers to pay to clean up hazardous mining waste. Congress should be doing the right thing by looking at reforms that protect taxpayers when approving energy projects. That is why I offered an amendment that would require oil, gas, and coal companies to put up a bond that actually covers the cost of cleaning up their messes from drilling and mining. That way, American taxpayers aren't on the hook to foot the billions of dollars needed to find and plug abandoned wells.…”