House passes sweeping GOP energy policy bill
By Clare Foran and Kristin Wilson, CNN
The House voted on Thursday to pass a sweeping energy policy bill put forward by Republicans that the GOP majority has highlighted as a key priority — even though it is expected to be dead on arrival in the Senate.
Republicans have touted the bill as a plan to increase American energy production and grow the economy, while Democrats have denounced the measure, arguing it would set back efforts to transition to clean energy sources. The final vote was 225 to 204.
House Republicans named the bill the “Lower Energy Costs Act” and gave it the designation of HR 1 to signal its importance as a major agenda item for the party.
In announcing the bill, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, called it “our top priority.”
“Every piece of legislation is assigned a number when it’s first introduced. Most of these numbers are chronological. But as speaker, I get to pick which bills are assigned the numbers one through ten as a way to show how important that legislation is.”
But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has made clear he is opposed to the legislation and it is has no future in his chamber.
In floor remarks earlier this month, Schumer said, “It’s not difficult to see that the Republican proposal is nothing more than a wish list for Big Oil masquerading as an energy package.”
Schumer went on to say, “So let me be clear: the House Republicans’ so-called energy bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. Dead on arrival.”
The House voted on a number of amendments as part of the chamber’s consideration of the energy bill.
One amendment that was adopted would prohibit the Secretary of Energy from implementing any rule that would “limit consumer access to gas kitchen ranges and ovens.”
The amendment was offered by Republican Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama and passed by a vote of 251 to 181 with 29 Democrats voting in favor with all Republicans.
Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, testifying before a House panel last week, said the Energy Department is required by Congress to work on energy efficiency regulations, including for gas and electric stovetops.
Referring to a proposed rule, Granholm said, “it is just about making existing electric and gas stoves, and all the other appliances, more efficient.”
“There is no ban on gas stoves. I have a gas stove,” Granholm said.
The White House has also asserted that President Joe Biden does not support a ban on gas stoves.
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CNN’s Maegan Vazquez contributed.
