Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I really stress that the Republicans keep talking about how this Methane Emissions Reduction Program harms the industry. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are a whole bunch of incentives in this program to drive down excess methane pollution and remediate the effects of pollution that do occur, but the program provides over $1.5 billion to assist the industry with reducing current and legacy methane emissions, including $700 million of incentives for small producers. The methane charge, or fee, only applies to wasted methane above specific thresholds based on the oil and gas industry's own climate commitments and methane reduction targets. We worked with the industry to put this together. They are cooperating with us. It is the opposite of the idea that somehow they are harmed. They are benefiting. They are actually making money from it. Overall, the Methane Emissions Reduction Program recognizes the cleanest performers, holds companies responsible for their own leaks and wasted methane, drives innovation, and creates a lot of jobs. The whole idea is to get them to do the right thing. We even give them money in order to accomplish that with their equipment, and it is working. This idea that it is harmful is just nonsense. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”