'Difference Between Life And Death': Lee Condemns Reliance On Renewable Energy

mr bryce i'd like to start with you if that's all right now in your testimony you indicated that there are four factors that have been contributing to massive energy shortages and energy spike and energy price spikes across europe first you pointed to under investment now domestically we've seen some investors some financiers uh rather like blackrock divesting from companies that generate more than 25 of their revenues from thermal coal production i've also heard of companies pressuring or threatening others who happen to determine that they don't want to divest from fossil fuels do you think this trend has had a direct impact or will have a direct impact on american energy security i think it already has sir um and talking to people that i know who are in the energy sector there's a shortage of capital available to drillers and some of this is due to the fact frankly that uh the drilling and enp sector burned through about 300 billion dollars and just simply lost it and consumers benefited from that destruction of capital but now drillers are facing much more restrictive uh uh loan agreements and are having a live within their cash flow but my point more specifically in my written testimony was on the under investment in hydrocarbon uh exploration and production in europe and uh the the the lack of production out of the north sea and then the the dutch also uh curtailing production from the groningen field right and so uh you've you've indicated that over-reliance within europe on imported energy has contributed to this energy and security in europe yes sir and at the same time um the biden administration seems to be proposing uh to increase royalty rates uh with the help of a number of members of of of congress in the democratic party uh and to tax coal and gas power companies um now coupled with the oil and gas leasing moratorium imposed by the biden administration from the very outset of its administration it seems like a lot for the energy industry to face but more than the energy industry were concerned about you know their customers about people who rely on those things do these kinds of actions have a direct impact on the ability or the willingness of companies to invest in domestic energy production absolutely and i think it's more over sir it's the the area where this is the most dangerous is in electric generation and uh the the the fragilization of our electric grid and what meredith anguin calls the fatal trifecta too much dependence on renewables too much dependence on imports and too much dependence on natural gas it is is it directly threatens the viability and resilience of our electric grid and this is the mother network it is the most important energy network in our country and it's getting scant attention from washington now you've also stated that over investment on intermittent sources was driving up prices uh as in california where some consumers are projected to pay three times the national average for electricity you think that the enactment of the democrats clean energy performance program also described as the muscle behind president biden's climate agenda would likewise have a tendency to drive up energy costs throughout the united states there's no question about that sir i i published a piece in forbes a few weeks ago on the cepp um not only would it reduce the resilience affordability and reliability of the electric grid it would be a handout of epic proportions to the solar and wind business so that in many cases they would be getting far more in federal subsidies than the way they would getting in in the wholesale market for their power they produce so for the same reasons then would it be a fair assumption that a simultaneous over-reliance on intermittent energy sources with uh that occurs at the same time as under investment in reliable sources something that could result in americans experiencing rolling power outages is that the sort of thing that could happen as a result of this sir i've experienced it firsthand i experienced it february 15th at 2 a.m and my lights went out for 45 hours if i can just add one other quick point to me the idea that we would make our our electric grid more reliant at a time when when due to climate change we're expecting more extreme weather to make our energy and power systems more dependent on the weather makes no sense at all in some cases it could threaten the lives of people in other words it can be more than just an inconvenience for some it can be mean the difference between life and death 700 people died in the blackouts in texas sir thank you i can't believe i'm going to say this senator hoeven thank you mr chairman mr nelly your testimony mentions that natural gas prices in the us have tripled as of last month and that areas like new england are at risk of higher price spikes due to limited pipeline capacity would more robust pipeline interest

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Length: 5min 22sec (322 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 21 2021