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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 9, 2022 03:13 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Gene Yaw |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | American energy key to undermining Putin’s war |
| In the near future, I will be introducing a Resolution urging the Biden Administration to support policies and take measures to ensure America’s (and Pennsylvania’s) long-term energy affordability, security, leadership and progress, including taking actions that result in the continued operation of existing oil and natural gas pipelines, the construction of new pipelines, and the end to restrictions on developing our domestic oil and natural resources. Energy independence is a matter of national security. And this is why short-sighted state and national climate policies — like forcing Pennsylvania into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and canceling natural gas and oil infrastructure, the Keystone XL pipeline chief among them — are so very dangerous. People across the world, not just in Ukraine, will die from the leverage Russia holds over global energy exports. As lawmakers, we have an obligation to be aware of the competing interests that involve our state and the nation. For many years, New York, New Jersey and Maryland have worked to limit the expansion of pipelines, which curtails our ability to market Pennsylvania produced natural gas. New York has banned high-volume hydraulic fracturing, and its environmental regulators have blocked a major natural gas pipeline originating in northeastern Pennsylvania, which would provide much needed natural gas to the New England states. The result has forced those states to import LNG from Russia and other foreign countries. Fast forward to today. We can attack Putin’s assets and Russia’s banks all we want, but so long as he’s cornered a sector of the energy market, his imperialist ambitions will not subside. All is not lost. The United States can change course. We can ramp up energy production with the same urgency we experienced when manufacturers pivoted to make masks and ventilators at the onset of the pandemic. We can ease Biden-era policies meant to restrict oil and gas production and exports. We can greenlight Keystone and other pipelines. And we can unleash our plentiful gas supply right here in Pennsylvania to help with that mammoth effort. As we already know, Appalachian basin production is the lowest methane intensity basin in the United States. And Russia's methane intensity is 65% HIGHER than the United States. Ramping up American and PA production and offsetting foreign production is a benefit to the environment. Please join me in co-sponsoring this resolution. |
Introduced as SR256