August Pfluger: “I thank my friend from Florida for yielding. Mr. Chair, it is almost hard to believe that we are actually having to have…”

“I thank my friend from Florida for yielding. Mr. Chair, it is almost hard to believe that we are actually having to have this discussion. At a time when Americans are struggling to afford groceries, the Biden administration is trying to implement new rules to dictate what you have in your house, what kind of appliances you have in your home. As my friend from New York just stood up and said that this is not just a Texas issue. This is not localized to one part of our country. This spans the entire country. We have seen the EPA overreach in every single aspect of energy, every single aspect, whether it is with endangered species, the threat of nonattainment in the Permian Basin, where I represent, they are overreaching. Their de facto ban on gas stoves would eliminate more than half of the gas cooktops on the market today while forcing 187 million Americans who use affordable, reliable natural gas to switch to expensive, less desirable alternatives. If this administration was serious about limiting pollution and protecting our climate, they would unleash the energy that we produce in my district in the Permian Basin, they would put Midland over Moscow, and they would make it easier to produce clean energy, 40 percent cleaner natural gas in the U.S. compared to Russia. In fact, homes with natural gas appliances emit 22 percent less CO<INF>2</INF> than all-electric homes. House Republicans are not just standing by idly. We are going to do something.…”