Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Supporting A Democratic CRA To Help Reduce Energy Costs

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the floor on today in support of a resolution led by Senator Schiff and Ranking Member Whitehouse to reduce energy costs through the reduction of methane gas waste. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

I want to thank Senator Schiff and Ranking Member Whitehouse for leading the charge on this important resolution.

Look: around the country, people's gas and electric bills are skyrocketing and more and more Americans are looking for every penny they can find to pay the bills, especially with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays around the corner.

But as families are trying to save, Donald Trump is making it easier for gas companies to waste. That is, waste as much natural gas as they want, by delaying an important rule that reduces leaks and waste from natural gas facilities.

Extracting natural gas costs money. And the more natural gas is wasted, the more consumers end up paying. That means it gets even more expensive to heat your home during the winter. It means more stress for families trying to make ends meet. It’s bad enough that the Republicans cut off all clean energy—that’s going to raise people’s electric prices to go through the roof—but now this is even worse. It’s insult to injury to the American consumer.

And so, the bottom line is simple: Americans are falling behind on their energy bills, and Donald Trump and Republicans are doing the bidding of the natural gas and oil lobby to drive up energy costs, and destroy good-paying American jobs in the process.

That wasted natural gas is poisonous to our communities. It leaks out into our neighborhoods causing asthma, lung cancer, heart problems, even reproductive issues. So, Democrats worked to reduce methane leaks and waste, saving consumers money and making our communities healthier. That’s a win-win.

Americans—when your electric bill goes up, talk to your senator, if they’re Republican, and ask why they’re cutting wind, cutting solar, and letting oil companies waste valuable methane. They’re doing it all, and it’s going to hurt the American consumer.

I urge strongly that we support this resolution.

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