Central Louisiana News

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), underscored the necessity for ongoing fossil fuel production to reduce energy costs, support U.S. competitiveness, and ensure baseload electricity availability during a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing today. Cassidy questioned leaders in the U.S. energy sector about the role of fossil fuels and the insufficiency of renewable energy to meet U.S. electricity demand. He also emphasized the importance of supporting American energy production to remain competitive with China.

“[W]hen we speak about higher energy costs—and they’ve risen significantly during this administration—part of that is the, kind of, unrealized productivity of sunk assets,” said Dr. Cassidy, referring to a closed-down American Electric Power Company plant in Shreveport, Louisiana. “That is regressive. Poorer people pay a greater percent of their income for this unrealized potential,” continued Dr. Cassidy.

Cassidy stressed the need for permitting reform, highlighting his REPAIR Act, a judicial reform bill aimed at streamlining the permitting process for U.S. energy, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure projects. Cassidy recently discussed his permitting reform efforts in an op-ed in the Washington Times as well.

“Lawsuit after lawsuit can effectively tie up something and effectively kill a project,” said Dr. Cassidy. “I’d like to say that folks on the other side of the dais want powerlines, and the folks on this side want pipelines, but we really want both because we know that both are essential.”

Cassidy later pointed out China’s extensive use of coal plants to fuel their manufacturing sector, which undercuts U.S. manufacturers who must comply with stringent environmental standards.

“Sixty percent of Chinese power is generated by coal. They typically don’t turn on their scrubbers because it decreases efficiency," he noted. "Often times, they are built on the Pacific coast which means the trade winds blow them over to the United States. To the degree that our energy policy increases the cost of energy and therefore encourages someone to move to China, we are actually worsening global greenhouse gas emissions because we’re increasing consumption of Chinese coal-fired electricity as opposed to clean-burning U.S. electricity,” concluded Dr. Cassidy.

Background

Cassidy has repeatedly raised concerns about China’s lack of pollution standards undermining U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. Last year, he introduced his Foreign Pollution Fee Act to level the playing field with Chinese manufacturing and expand American production.

Cassidy has written editorials in Foreign Affairs and The Washington Times discussing geopolitical threats posed by China to U.S.'s global standing and stressed a comprehensive foreign policy towards China encompassing national security, energy security, economic policy, and climate policy.

In response to what he describes as an assault on domestic energy by the Biden administration, Cassidy released a landmark energy & climate policy outline last Congress detailing how U.S. energy policy could be reset successfully—including his plan for an Energy Operation Warp Speed aimed at cutting permitting red tape and boosting domestic energy and manufacturing.

Additionally supporting this vision alongside his Foreign Pollution Fee initiative, Cassidy led Republican colleagues in opposing a domestic carbon tax and introduced comprehensive judicial reform for permitting bills while resisting proposals from the Biden administration that would limit development in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) through measures such as introducing WHALE Act and Offshore Energy Security Act of 2023.