Rep. Dan Meuser on Friday called on Senate Democrats to "get on board" with passing the Lower Energy Costs Act, a measure passed in the House in March aiming to bolster U.S. energy production and scale back climate initiatives.
"It's a very important bill, and the Biden administration and the Democrats need to get onboard if they care about American families and strengthening America's economy," the Pennsylvania Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
The measure will not only restore energy independence in the United States, Meuser said, but it "strengthens America and it will reduce inflation."
He added that in Pennsylvania, the Marcellus Shale region contains the third-largest reserves of natural gas in the world, so the bill "means jobs. It means cleaner energy."
When oil or natural gas is drilled in the U.S., it is a cleaner process than in "98% of the rest of the world," including Russia, the Middle East, or Venezuela," Meuser added.
Meuser said energy independence is also a matter of national security.
"OPEC has us over a barrel when they want to cut back their supply," and that drives up gasoline prices and the cost of home heating oil, he continued. "It is very destructive to our economy as a whole."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said the bill is dead in the water in the Senate and President Joe Biden has threatened to veto it, saying it rolls back Democrat investments in clean energy while padding oil and gas company profits, which Meuser said is "nonsense."
"If they're bringing in imports and pushing for OPEC to increase its production, and Venezuela and the other countries named, they are wrong," said Meuser. "That increases pollution.
"The more natural gas and American oil are utilized, the less carbon emissions occur … they've got a grim reaper view of things and their ideology is more important to them."
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