WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, issued the following statement after the House passed H.J. Res. 35, to repeal the Biden-Harris Administration’s natural gas tax, by a vote of 220 to 206 to 1. 

“It’s time to use the energy resources underneath our feet to provide the baseload power that the American people rely on. Implementing a new tax on our energy resources would limit innovation and raise prices for consumers. Today’s passage of Congressman Pfluger’s resolution is yet another step toward unleashing American energy dominance,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Griffith. “We are grateful to Congressman Pfluger for his leadership on this issue and will work with the Senate to see it passed.” 

“Today, House Republicans rolled back the disastrous natural gas tax imposed by Democrats. This overreach has driven up energy prices, hurt domestic natural gas production, and increased reliance on foreign energy — without delivering any so-called environmental benefit,” said Speaker Johnson. House Republicans are leveraging the Congressional Review Act to support President Trump in undoing the damage of the Biden Administration’s war on American energy.”

“In November, the American people overwhelmingly voted for lower energy prices, and today, House Republicans took another step towards fulfilling that mandate. In the latest effort to reverse Biden's disastrous energy policies, the House passed my bill to nullify the EPA’s rule implementing the ill-conceived natural gas tax,” said Congressman Pfluger. “This tax raises costs on production, discourages investment, and increases energy prices across America. I am looking forward to working toward a full repeal of the underlying statute and continuing to implement President Trump’s pro-energy agenda.”

Background: 

H.J. Res 35, Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to "Waste Emissions Charge for Petroleum and Natural Gas Systems: Procedures for Facilitating Compliance, Including Netting and Exemptions,” led by Rep. August Pfluger (TX-11), would repeal the rule implementing the Biden-Harris Administration’s Waste Emissions Charge (WEC)—also known as the natural gas tax—which was established in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Since 2005, the United States has become the world leader in both the production of natural gas as well as emissions reductions. While the United States’ energy production grew to 25% of global natural gas, we have also reduced emissions by 18% — outperforming the average of all Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. New and burdensome regulations would hurt both energy production and innovations that limit emissions.

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