Senate Passes Measure that Will Hike Electricity Bills and Hand Public Lands to Oil Drillers

WASHINGTON D.C – The Senate passed a massive legislative package that would gut tax incentives for clean energy and electric vehicles and auction off millions of acres of public lands to oil drillers and other extractive industries.

With electricity prices on the rise, this bill would stifle our fastest-growing source of new power on the grid, meaning household energy bills nationwide could spike by up to $415 a year within the next decade, and result in 1.75 million lost construction jobs. It also mandates the largest auction of public lands and waters in U.S. history for more oil drilling, industrial logging, and coal mining.

The following is a statement from Manish Bapna, president of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): 

“With spiking power demand and rising bills, we need more clean, affordable American energy, but Senate Republicans just voted to kill jobs and deliver the largest utility bill increase in U.S. history. 

“This measure props up the dirty and expensive technologies of the past, while strangling the clean energy investments that are creating millions of jobs across the country. At a time when we need new energy more than ever, Republicans are punishing the plentiful wind and solar power that can be quickly added to the grid.

“Never before has Congress authorized such a sweeping giveaway of public space to private interests. Make no mistake: the ‘no Ttespassing’ signs will go up, as oil companies and loggers cut off public access so they can use public lands for their private profit.

“Every senator who voted for this bill chose tax cuts for the wealthiest over the rest of our health, pocketbooks, public lands and waters, and a safe climate. This is like Robin Hood in reverse. The very rich will get richer and the rest of us will have to pay the price.” 

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).