Click here or on the image above to watch Ranking Member Capito’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today joined several of her colleagues in a press conference blasting Democrats’ and President Joe Biden’s energy and climate policies.

TRANSCIPT:

“Thank you all for being here today. And I think you're going to hear a lot of similarities that we see across our states.

“One of the things that is influencing this high price of energy—both at the pump or at your home heating—is the inflation. We've seen inflation go up over 5.4%, which is the most it's gone up in 13 years, and many of you are probably too young to have lived through the misery years of the late 70s and early 80s when mortgage interest rates were in the teens, and when we had a stand in line to get gas on an even or an odd day. So you know, when somebody goes to fill up their tank, as Senator Barrasso said, it's more at the tank ,and it's not because their tanks are getting any bigger.

“In my state, the price of gasoline is more than $1 more per gallon. And the White House says they're working on it. Yeah, they better be working on it. But what they're doing for that person who drives to school, drops their kid off, drives to work, goes to the grocery store, goes to visit their parents, maybe goes to an evening activity—they're feeling it every single day. The White House needs to begin to work on it.

“The president is going to Scotland, as we know, and we know he's going to bring forward the energy plan that he brought forward when he cancelled that pipeline on the first day of office. And that's not America first. It's America last. We're going to be behind the line there of the other nations that are going to be there. So as we see that coming through my EPW Committee and as John sees in the Energy Committee, its regulation upon regulation, stifling any kind of production of oil and natural gas, which would alleviate some of this issue.

“So let's just talk about home heating. We're getting ready to go into the into the winter months. It's predicted by independent analysis that the cost of home heating will jump 54% this year. So, you know, when I think about my fellow West Virginians, many who are on fixed incomes, when they have to make a choice—they're going to have to make these choices on how warm they can stay. And whether they can go either go out or whether what type of if they could go to a restaurant, or if they can buy enough food really in their own home. They're going to have to make these choices because of the rise and people have problems paying their bills in those cold winter months anyway. It's predicted that natural gas bills will go up 30%. Most of our state is heated by natural gas, but we're also heated by propane. Propane. The EIA just projected a 54% increase in the cost of propane. So it's going to hurt everywhere.

“And it's time for the administration to stop selling us talking points and talking to the international community about how we're going to lead when we're leaving so many people behind here at home through the cost of high energy.” 

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