Click here to watch Ranking Member Barrasso’s remarks.  

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) delivered the following remarks on the Senator floor about President Biden’s anti-American energy agenda. 

Barrasso is ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR). 

Senator Barrasso’s excerpts: 

“I come to the floor today to oppose the Biden administration’s agenda which is anti-American energy. That’s what we’re facing in this country today. 

“President Biden just got back from a trip to Europe. He went there to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference… 

“They’re flying off to Scotland. John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi are heading there. Many in this body from the Democrat side of the aisle will be heading there soon. 

“Back at home people are struggling with inflation and it’s at a 30 year high. It’s a result of the policies of this administration. 

“One in five American families have cut their spending this year to pay for the energy bills that are being brought forth by the policies of this administration which is anti-American energy. 

“The cost of a gallon of gasoline has gone up by a dollar a gallon since President Biden has come to office. 

“That means the cost of everything else is up as well. Higher prices aren’t just prices you pay at the pump, they’re prices you pay at the grocery store. At the same time, the cost of natural gas has doubled. It’s now at a point where it’s the highest price it’s been in seven years. 

“Half of the homes in this country are heated with natural gas. 

“Winter is coming, and it’s only going to get worse. This leaves less money in people’s paychecks if they pay so much to fill up, so much to heat their home – less money for their family. That’s why the New York Times’ front page story last week talked about Thanksgiving and how the cost is going to be walloping the wallet of American families.   

“People are soon going to have to decide whether they will have the money to heat or to eat. That’s what we’re facing as a result of the agenda of this administration. 

“What is the president doing about it? Well, he went to Europe, and he astonishingly apologized to the world for America. 

“He made unrealistic pledges to cut emissions. He said he was going to cute one billion tons in the next eight years and went so far to say the U.S. will reach zero emissions in 28 years. 

“That would be the most dramatic change in the history of the American economy. 

“It’s a reckless promise. Yet the president did get the applause from the global elite.

“The American people aren’t applauding. The American people are wringing their hands. 

“The average European doesn’t have a reason to applaud either. 

“Joe Biden left out a few important facts from his speech in Europe.

 “He forgot to mention he gave Vladimir Putin the green light to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany. 

“He failed to mention Putin can now hold half of Europe hostage with natural gas. 

“He failed to mention that today in America, we are using more oil from Vladimir Putin’s Russia than we are from the state of Alaska.

“The president failed to mention he’s asking Vladimir Putin to sell more oil to the United States, pump more oil because he doesn’t want it produced in the United States. He’s willing to kill American jobs in the process. 

“Due to the policies of this president and his radical attacks on American energy, Vladimir Putin has hit the jackpot. He’s going to cash in for years to come. 

“Working families all across Europe know better. They have seen this movie before. 

“This morning, I released a report called ‘Europe’s Energy Crisis: A Warning to America.’ That’s where President Biden is leading the United States. It’s no wonder that the national poll released last Sunday by NBC news showed only 22 percent of the American people believe the country is headed in the right direction under the Democrats and under this president.

“This report details how Europe has tried many of the environmental policies Democrats are proposing and want to pass today. The consequences have been devastating to families there and will be devastating to families here.

“Because of the policies, Europeans are paying some of the highest energy prices in the world. And much of the energy they use is unreliable. 

“Prices are really high in America right now, but they’re even higher in Europe. 

“This Spring, gasoline prices were at least 65 percent higher in Europe than they were in America. 

“From 2005 to 2020, the cost of energy in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom increased between 28 to 71 percent depending on the country. 

“European industries pay at least 90 percent more for natural gas than American industries do. 

“This is a major competitive advantage for American companies. 

“Yet President Biden is doing everything he can to throw our competitive advantage away. 

“The president is trying to pass legislation that will make it worse at home. 

“The largest piece of the president’s spending bill is over $500 billion for the heavily criticized Green New Deal. This includes payoffs for electric vehicle owners.

“It includes an army of full-time climate activists. It includes higher taxes on American energy and higher prices for consumers. 

“It would ban exploration for oil and gas off our shores and in the Arctic. 

“All of these ideas would raise costs for working families. 

“My new report shows Europe already tried the Democrats’ environmental policies. The results were disastrous for Europe, they will be disastrous here. 

“I urge my Democrats colleagues: don’t make the same mistakes here. Don’t subject the people of the United States to the same punishing pain of the high cost of energy that the people are sustaining right now in Europe. 

“Stop raising prices and making life harder. The American people, American producers, and American families deserve better.”

###