WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) to introduce the American Energy Independence Act of 2022, which reverses President Biden’s shutdown of the American energy sector and returns American energy to full production.
 
“Energy costs were already skyrocketing due to President Biden’s disastrous policies that have made us more reliant on energy from places like Russia. Putin’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine will make matters worse for energy costs at home. Now more than ever, we need to reclaim our energy independence so Iowa families don’t continue paying the price for this administration’s failures. That’s why I’m proud to support the American Energy Independence Act, which will take critical steps to lower gas prices and unleash energy production right here in the United States,” Grassley said.
 
“To be strong and free as a nation, we must be energy independent. My bill will reverse Joe Biden’s disastrous energy surrender that has allowed Russian energy dominance and instead open up American production full-throttle,” said Hawley. “To stand up to aggressors like Vladimir Putin, we can and we must work to power our nation and the world.”
 
“The Biden administration’s war on American energy has placed severe burdens on the shoulders of American citizens and led to disastrous national security ramifications across the globe. For the sake of our national and economic security, we must immediately reverse course and re-establish the energy independence created by the previous administration’s policies, which is exactly what this legislation would do,” Hagerty said.
 
Shortly after taking office, Biden canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline, blocked new oil and gas leases, issued regulations designed to stymie domestic energy investment and advocated for measures that focus more on Green New Deal priorities than on American security. As energy prices soared at home, Biden turned to Russia and the global oil cartel OPEC for help driving down energy costs.
 
Now, immediately following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the price of oil rose to over $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014. Gas and energy prices for working Americans are quickly rising to new highs. The Biden administration has been reluctant to sanction the Russian energy sector, due no doubt to the United States’ dangerous dependence on foreign energy. At the same time, European countries, particularly Germany, are heavily dependent on Russian natural gas.
 
Specifically, the American Energy Independence Act of 2022 will:

  • Assert that it is the official policy of the United States to achieve full energy independence and low energy costs for its citizens in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 
  • Instruct federal agencies to identify and rescind existing regulations that have the effect of reducing American energy independence, bar new climate rules that reduce energy security or raise energy prices and direct agencies to work to achieve energy independence by 2024.
  • Ease the regulatory burden on energy companies engaged in fracking.
  • Restore the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline after its cancellation by the Biden administration and ease the process for constructing new pipelines.
  • Defund the United States’ contributions to any provisions of the Paris Climate Agreement.
  • Promote oil and natural gas leases on federal land following the Biden administration’s moratorium.
  • Terminate the Biden administration’s new “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) regulation and preserve the Trump administration’s standards.
  • Lower the “social cost of carbon” to $0 per ton to focus government standards on boosting domestic energy production, rather than climate change.
Text for the American Energy Independence Act of 2022 can be found by clicking HERE.
 

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