Pallone Condemns Republican Resolution Gutting Methane Program and Raising Americans’ Energy Bills

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) had the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, on the House floor today in opposition to H.J. Res.35, a resolution that invokes the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to gut the Methane Emissions Reduction Program and drive up Americans’ energy bills:

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.J. Res.35, a resolution that will drive up energy prices on Americans.

It is a radical measure that would gut one of the Inflation Reduction Act’s most critical programs: the Methane Emissions Reduction Program. With this resolution, Republicans are doubling down on their commitment to lining the pockets of their special interest corporate polluter friends at Americans’ expense.

Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised that the House Republicans continue to prioritize billionaires and big corporations over everyday Americans. Just last night, Republicans moved forward with a budget that includes devastating, life-altering cuts to Medicaid and food assistance for our kids, our seniors, and our veterans, all so Republicans can give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies.

H.J.Res.35 is just another giveaway that saddles Americans with higher energy bills – plain and simple – all to help Republicans’ corporate polluter friends. What’s more, repealing the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) methane polluter fee slashes revenue for the government, meaning this bill will cost American taxpayers a whopping $7.2 billion. This is a shameful, massive waste of money and resources.

Because the reality is this: without the methane polluter fee, it’s cheaper for the oil and gas industry to waste valuable methane rather than install or upgrade equipment to control that pollution. Currently, oil and gas companies waste enough natural gas from leaks, venting, and flaring to meet the energy demand of 14 million households every year. In other words, the oil and gas industry is throwing $2 billion worth of American energy down the drain every year – which Americans then have to pay for.

And that wasted methane has grave consequences for our environment and for public health. Methane is an extremely dangerous greenhouse gas that accounts for nearly a third of today’s global warming and is a key contributor to smog.

That’s why strong pollution control programs, like the Methane Emissions Reduction Program, are so pivotal. The program includes a suite of incentives to drive down excess methane pollution, including $1.5 billion to help industry reduce methane emissions.

At the heart of this program is the methane polluter fee, which is targeted by the resolution before us today. This fee is meant to correct the market failure that makes it cheaper for operators to waste methane rather than capture and sell it. It ensures polluters pay for their own wasted energy and the harm it causes – not American consumers.

Unlike a tax, the methane polluter fee only applies to wasted methane above specific thresholds. These achievable thresholds are based on the oil and gas industry’s own climate commitments and methane reduction targets. EPA then applies a fee for wasted methane that exceeds those thresholds. The best part: companies can avoid the fee all together simply by not wasting methane.

Many industry leaders are already meeting these thresholds. H.J.Res.35 is just a gift to the dirtiest oil and gas producers.

Addressing methane pollution can yield tremendous financial, climate, and public health benefits across the country. By incentivizing companies to capture lost revenue, the Methane Emissions Reduction Program and the methane polluter fee spur American innovation, strengthen businesses, and boost local economies.

In fact, between 2014 and 2024, there was an 88 percent increase in manufacturing firms in the methane mitigation industry. This sector employs thousands of Americans across the nation with high-quality, good-paying jobs. Yet this Republican resolution threatens those jobs and undermines American innovation.

It also not only blocks the EPA from implementing the program’s Waste Emissions Charge – also known as the methane polluter fee – but would also prevent the Agency from ever taking similar action in the future.

Controlling methane pollution is a win for all Americans. Yet my Republican colleagues are willing to throw that all away to line the pockets of their corporate polluter friends, raising costs on hardworking Americans and the middle class in the process.

Make no mistake: President Trump, Elon Musk, and Congressional Republicans have no intention of doing anything to lower Americans’ energy bills and H.J. Res.35 is the latest proof.

I urge my colleagues to vote no. And I reserve the balance of my time.