Taking government's boot off American-made energy

Record breaking gas costs. Double digit increases in utility bills. These are the painful consequences of President Joe Biden's pursuit of an energy strategy that rewards his wealthy environmentalist friends, allies and donors -- consequences that disproportionately hurt working-class Americans and small businesses. Whether it's killing the Keystone XL pipeline, stifling the creation of new refineries, or targeting U.S. energy with costly tax increases, Washington Democrats are directly responsible for creating the worst energy crisis in years. And at every step of the way, they have shown a complete disregard for all the pain their radical climate agenda is inflicting.

To build an economy that's strong, House Republicans made a Commitment to America that we would make our nation energy independent again and reduce gas prices. To fulfill our promise, the new House Republican majority passed the landmark H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act, legislation I co-authored to put America back on the path to energy independence. We were energy independent under President Donald Trump, and we can be energy independent again with the right policies.

Our bill will help unleash American energy by stopping the Biden administration from blocking federal land and offshore lease sales for oil and gas development. In his effort to eliminate fossil fuels, Biden has prevented U.S. energy from taking advantage of the vast amount of oil and gas that's right in our backyard. In fact, no president since World War II leased fewer acres for oil-and-gas drilling offshore and on federal land in the first 19 months of their administration than Biden.

The landmark legislation also goes after another tool Biden has relied on to stifle energy production: burdensome regulations. The Lower Energy Costs Act takes much-needed steps to reform the federal government's time consuming and costly permitting process -- not just for when it comes to energy projects, but across all sectors of the economy. Under this bill, Biden will no longer be able to use burdensome regulations and red tape to limit the production of American-made energy.

The Lower Energy Costs Act also takes aim at Biden's new fees on American energy. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that when businesses get hit with higher costs and fees from the government, these added costs are passed down to consumers. The legislation will help protect working families by repealing Biden's $6 billion new natural gas fee. That's good news for the more than 1.4 million Missouri households that rely on natural gas to heat their homes.

Whether it's reversing Biden's anti-energy policies, streamlining energy infrastructure and exports, or boosting the production and processing of critical minerals, the Lower Energy Costs Act will lay the foundation our nation needs to become energy independent once again. This landmark legislation is just the latest example of House Republicans delivering on the promise we made to the American people to combat Biden's costly energy agenda. I'll continue fighting to bring relief to the millions of working-class Americans who are struggling to put food on their table, clothes on their backs, and gasoline in their cars.

Jason Smith (R-MO) represents the 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.