House Committee on Ways and Means Holds Key Hearing on Wednesday

Washington, D.C. - With the election of a new Congress last November, leaders in Washington are now taking a hard look at the impact of the billions of dollars in green government handouts. Power The Future's Founder and Executive Director Daniel Turner will be among the expert witnesses to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee today.

"It is a privilege to have the opportunity to highlight one of the many shortfalls of the green agenda, and I commend Chairman Smith for calling attention to this important matter," said Turner. "For over two years, our families have struggled while disconnected politicians force an agenda that crippled America's energy might. In response, voters elected new leadership in the House and I'm grateful to share my perspective on the connection between President Biden's anti-energy policies and the empowerment of the Chinese Communist Party."

The full transcript of Mr. Turner's opening remarks are as follows:

Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. My name is Daniel Turner and I am the Founder of Power The Future, a group that advocates for the millions of energy workers especially those in rural America. These men and women produce the energy which powers our homes and our nation, and their jobs are under constant attack.

Energy undergirds everything, from our economy to our national security. Everything grown, manufactured, transported, requires energy, and as energy prices go up, food and consumer goods have become more expensive. Our current state of high inflation is driven largely by administrative actions designed to significantly raise the cost of fossil fuels. No one has been hit harder than working class and rural Americans.

We are producing less oil than we have in years because we have an Administration that has promised "no new drilling". As a result, gas prices are still nearly $1.50 higher on average than when President Biden took office. The proposed government solution? A $7,500 tax rebate on new Electric Vehicles. For most Americans who cannot afford an EV, which averages $60,000, that is clearly not a solution at all.

So, who is benefitting from these tax rebates? Data shows that the average EV owner earns over $100,000, more than double the average salary. The tax benefits for "going green" are anything but equitable. The other beneficiary is the Chinese government.

My organization has previously authored two studies: one showing how 70% of EVs and green technology are manufactured in China; the other showing how 90-95% of the rare earth elements in those technologies are sourced from markets dominated by China. As a consequence, every tax break, subsidy, or government program meant to incentivize the purchase of EVs is really a direct benefit to China.

It does not have to be this way. President Biden has spoken often about a supply chain "that starts in America," a goal with which I whole-heartily agree. Yet along with that lofty rhetoric comes a sobering truth: efforts to open U.S. mines needed for the green supply chain have been thwarted. Mines in Minnesota, Arizona, Alaska, and many other states all stopped production while the Biden Administration has made deals for these same materials from foreign countries, some with records of slavery and child labor and disastrous environmental practices. Yes, the metals and rare earths to "go green" are still needed, but the jobs and the tax revenue are being outsourced rather than coming to Americans.

I have been to native Alaskan villages fighting the government to open a mine where unemployment currently runs around 80%, where mothers pour soda into their babies' bottles because milk, if they even can find it, costs $12 a half gallon and there is no running water. These communities are pleading for the mine to open: for the jobs, electricity, infrastructure, and most of all, dignity and hope. These communities deserve the chance to utilize their land for their much-needed benefit.

And we have done this for decades to coal communities. All across America, the war on coal has closed mines and plunged once thriving communities into poverty. Radical environmental groups, many of which have been investigated for their ties to Russian and Chinese funding, launch glitzy campaigns to close the coal mine, and when they win, they return to their headquarters and leave those towns struggling with systemic poverty.

Yet we still use coal. It's just more expensive, and eventually, like the metals and rare earths, it will be imported from other countries often where child and slave labor mine it. Fossil fuels are not going away; the government is just making them more expensive, and as a result, making life more expensive, too.

The burdens grow harder. The natural gas tax Congress passed last year will not have companies "pay their fair share," as proponents claim. The American people will just face higher costs. Even the discussed bans on gas stoves and gas hot water heaters will do nothing for climate change; they will just make life even harder for struggling Americans.

I am here today to talk about policies that unleash American energy and, by extension, American prosperity and the American dream. I look forward to taking your questions and having a robust and honest conversation.

Power The Future is a 501c4 non-profit dedicated to fighting for American energy workers.