Key Votes on Amendments to H.R. 6147

In consideration of H.R. 6147 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019, the American Energy Alliance has identified the below amendments to Division A as key votes.

YES on Amendment #138 (renumbered to #43 in the rule) offered by Rep. Mullin et al. This amendment seeks to prohibit the implementation of the previous administration’s methane rule. The methane rule was designed and intended as a tool to strangle energy production on federal lands. The rule is unnecessary, given that methane emissions have been falling in recent years even as natural gas production has increased rapidly. Oil and gas producers already have an economic incentive to capture methane as it is a versatile product in its own right. This unjustified rule should be stopped.

YES on Amendment #139 (renumbered to #44 in the rule) offered by Rep. Mullin et al. This amendment seeks to eliminate the use of the so-called social cost of carbon. The social cost of carbon calculation is entirely notional and cannot be justified on scientific or economic grounds. During the creation process, the social cost of carbon models and calculations were manipulated to reach a desired end goal. The social cost of carbon designed by the previous administration should be discarded.

YES on Amendment #143 (renumbered to #56 in the rule) offered by Rep. Grothman. This amendment would prevent implementation of the 2015 ground level ozone rule. The EPA decision to tighten ozone standards was regulatory excess. While the new administration is working to review the rule, prohibiting funding for the rule will ensure that it is not revived through litigation.

NO on Amendment #25 (renumbered to #41 in the rule) offered by Rep. Beyer et al. This amendment seeks to remove the bill language protecting Americans from the overreaching Obama administration “waters of the United States” definition. That WOTUS definition was an attempt to usurp state authority to regulate water sources.  While the EPA is now working through the process of repealing and replacing the rule with a definition that more accurately reflects the intent of Congress, the American people need to be protected from the previous definition being revived through litigation.

AEA urges all members to support free markets and affordable energy by voting YES on Amendments #138, #139, and #143 and NO on Amendment #25.  Should a vote on any of these amendments occur, AEA will include each in its American Energy Scorecard.