Unleashing Pennsylvania’s Abundant Resources

Member Group : Americans for Prosperity-PA

In a recent recording for Americans for Prosperity’s American Potential podcast, Toby Rice, CEO of EQT corporation, one of the country’s largest natural gas producers, shared a number that will shock you: when you add up the total oil and gas produced in America each day, that number is equivalent to 31 million barrels of energy per day—more than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined.

As a leader in the energy space, his message to Harrisburg and Washington resonates deeply: “Let the markets work.” Though a simple statement, his words have never be more critical. After four years of top-down, stifling control of the energy sector by Washington’s executive branch, and many years of cap-and-tax policies from Harrisburg, there’s no better time to unleash our commonwealth’s natural resources, which ultimately means that you, ratepayers and consumers, pay less each year.

On behalf of Americans for Prosperity, we were elated to see President Trump sign an Executive Order to unleash America’s energy abundance—reversing years of top-down control that hindered our country’s potential. With this executive order, this administration signaled their commitment to our energy production as the backbone of our economy.

Over the course of the last four years, former President Joe Biden left our energy sector in shambles. Through his executive power, Biden doled out billions of dollars of corporate welfare to the renewable energy industry, deemed thousands of acres of federal lands off limits to oil leasing, and, most notably, canceled the Keystone Pipeline project. How did this impact you, the taxpayer?

You felt the increase of energy prices by 30%. You, as a motorist, experienced record-high prices at the pump. Finally, to heat your home, you endured skyrocketing heating costs.

Washington has signaled the desire for change, but now, we must call upon Governor Shapiro and House Democrats to get to work to put a stop to their dangerous energy policies.

As executive of our commonwealth, Governor Shapiro has signaled his support for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is a conglomerate of states that implement cap-and-tax policies on CO2 emissions. As CO2 emissions are capped to a certain level, this levies a tax on you, the ratepayer. Even worse, Pennsylvania was entered into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative by executive order, stripping Pennsylvanians of the opportunity to share opposition through the voices of their representation in Harrisburg. Governor Shapiro could lead with the same enthusiasm as Washington to work to drive down the cost of energy bills, unleashing our commonwealth’s energy innovation along the way.

Instead, we see Harrisburg pandering to special interests at the cost of the taxpayer. There’s work to be done: tell the Shapiro administration that you reject cap-and-tax policies that drive up your energy bills! Join us at americansforprosperity.org to get to work today towards a better future for our energy industry.

Through your voice, you can help us signal the will of the people to praise efforts to keep energy prices low, while also holding accountable those who promote top-down, executive control over energy policies across our commonwealth and country.

Take action today. Your voice is your most crucial tool in the toolkit, so help us send a message to Harrisburg to reject the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and other top-down policies that burden our commonwealth’s ratepayers. Again, head to americansforprosperity.org to learn more.

This is Emily Greene, State Director with Americans for Prosperity-PA.