Opinion Pieces

This piece was originally published in the Washington Examiner.

One of the more extreme left-wing ideas you may have heard is “environmental justice.” Contrary to its name, this buzzword is yet another effort by the Biden-Harris administration to block traditional energy and infrastructure projects. If the administration cared about bringing prosperity to low-income communities, it would drop its insistence on a forced green transition and support affordable and reliable energy sources that power the West and the rural United States.

The term “environmental justice” has been deployed to falsely advocate a healthy environment for underserved or low-income communities. However, it is clear that the goal of “environmental justice” is to threaten traditional energy projects and manufacturing facilities located in or near low-income communities. This is a tool for extreme environmentalists to force a transition to less affordable and reliable energy sources on the very communities they claim to be helping.

Access to affordable and reliable energy promotes upward mobility and health. In 2023, Donna Jackson of Project 21 testified to the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the subject, stating, “Plentiful and affordable domestic energy is part of the ticket out of poverty and dependence.” 

If policymakers are serious about creating prosperity in disadvantaged communities, increasing the supply of affordable energy is the right move. How can a community reap the benefits of affordable energy if the projects delivering this electricity are halted?

Additionally, the administration’s regulation-heavy energy strategy ignores the secondary benefits of traditional energy to rural and low-income communities. In many parts of the country, the oil and gas industry contributes crucial funding to education and other services, benefiting local residents beyond the direct impacts of jobs. For example, schools in low-income communities depend on the revenue from oil and gas development as part of their funding. In 2020, the oil and gas industry contributed $1.4 billion to education in New Mexico.

We serve as leaders of the Congressional and Senate Western Caucuses, which are groups of representatives and senators advocating prosperity in the western and rural U.S. This includes pushing back on the Biden administration’s energy agenda, including its “environmental justice” efforts that will crush rural communities.

In January, Congressional Western Caucus members submitted comments to the Council on Environmental Quality, which is drafting the Biden-Harris administration’s “Environmental Justice Scorecard.” These comments included requests to include commonsense components in its scorecard, such as the effect of electricity rate increases on low-income communities and the benefits of affordable and reliable energy on healthcare and life expectancy. Unfortunately, we never heard back from the council on whether it considered our input.

This administration’s decision to ignore our input has made it clear it will stop at nothing to pursue its radical environmental agenda regardless of the consequences. Together, we have introduced the Reducing Environmental Gamesmanship Act to prohibit federal agencies from punishing the West with their militant agenda and reclaim Congress’s decision-making authority. It is time to scale back this administration’s self-awarded power. Our legislation ensures Congress, and not unelected bureaucrats, has the authority to fast-track the critical environmental cleanups that this administration’s unnecessary red tape has delayed.

If President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris truly cared about economic prosperity in low-income communities, they would stop their war on affordable and reliable energy production instead of finding creative new ways to kill energy projects as a handout to extremists. The Congressional and Senate Western Caucuses will continue to advocate ending this insanity and bringing prosperity to rural communities.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) represents Washington’s 4th Congressional District in the House and is chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus.

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) is a junior senator from Wyoming and chairwoman of the Senate Western Caucus.