Today, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) released the below statement after voting in favor of H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act:

“For years, America’s energy policies have driven up the cost of my constituents heating their homes and filling up their tanks. Working people can’t afford that. We have to make clean energy less expensive than fossil fuels.

The reason I voted for this legislation is because we’re in desperate need of permitting reform. So many of the solar, wind, hydro, nuclear and fusion projects we’re relying on haven’t been able to move forward because of a lack of transmission capacity. We need to get more power lines built, but these projects are too often delayed because of the regulatory mess of our current permitting process.

The bill is flawed – the repeal of the clean energy technology investments of the Inflation Reduction Act are counterproductive and impeding our ability to lead the world on clean energy innovation. But, it’s time Democrats and Republicans work together to lower energy costs for working people. The Senate needs to strip out the partisanship in this legislation and develop a bipartisan compromise that includes clean energy.”