Key Vote NO on Cloture on the Substitute Amendment

The American Energy Alliance urges all Senators to oppose cloture on the substitute amendment to H.R. 3684.

The substance of the amendment is poor policy and a bad use of taxpayer resources. The subsidies for electric vehicles and charging are not the responsibility of the federal government. The tens of billions of dollars for unneeded and impractical passenger rail will only fuel more wasteful white elephants to accompany California’s ongoing high-speed rail fiasco. The tens of billions of dollars more to mass transit systems whose ridership have collapsed is yet more waste. The tens of billions in subsidies for electricity transmission is simply not needed. The amendment also layers on billions in questionable spending in pursuit of central planning of energy.

But beyond the bad policy in the infrastructure proposal itself, the legislation is inextricably linked to the multi-trillion dollar inflationary budget that the administration hopes to see passed through reconciliation. While the contents of the reconciliation bill are still vague, the energy taxes and tariffs reported to be included would be a disaster for the American economy. Its provisions will drive up the cost of energy and goods throughout the country, turbo-charging already persistently high inflation and exacerbating the challenges posed by federal deficits. Because of the linkage of the two pieces of legislation, a vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill makes passage of the inflation bill more likely. AEA therefore urges the Senate not to collude in raising energy prices for Americans.

The AEA urges all members to support free markets and affordable energy by voting NO on cloture substitute to H.R. 3684.  AEA will include this vote in its American Energy Scorecard.