Dear Chairman Carper and Ranking Member Capito:
On behalf of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES), I write in support of S. 1863, the Providing Reliable, Objective, Verifiable Emissions Intensity and Transparency (PROVE IT) Act. CRES is a non-profit dedicated to advocacy of conservative solutions about responsible, conservative solutions that address our nation’s energy, economic, and environmental security while ensuring America retains its global competitive edge.
America is a world leader in emissions reductions, and American innovation has unleashed cutting-edge technologies like hydraulic fracturing, nuclear energy, hydrogen fuels, wind, and solar, among many others, to make our energy cheaper, cleaner, and more abundant.
The PROVE IT Act would bolster the case that American-produced goods result in lower emissions than our economic competitors. Even more, better understanding of these domestic advantages will help the United States counter adversarial trade practices that punish American workers and industries by placing harmful tariffs on our production based on their objectionable emissions data. If enacted, the PROVE IT Act would help show what we already know: the American industrial sector does it better, whether producing building materials, fuels, fibers, paper products, solar cells, wind turbines, or plastics.
To that end, the PROVE IT Act would direct the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to publish a study within two years of enactment identifying:
- Average emissions intensity of covered products produced in the United States, including any data gaps;
- Average emissions intensity of covered products by a G7 country, free trade agreement partner, foreign country of concern, and countries who control a substantive global market share of a covered product;
- Issues with verifying average product emissions intensity data for covered products produced in covered countries; and
- Relative emissions intensity of each category of covered products produced in the U.S. compared to the average product emissions intensity of each category of covered products produced in covered countries.
The PROVE IT Act would ensure this information is not used to design or implement a domestic carbon tax or promulgate related federal regulations. Under the bill, DOE would facilitate collaboration among entities and ensure industry has a voluntary avenue to provide the agency with their own emissions data. DOE would then update the study with the latest findings every five years.
America faces challenges from every corner of the globe today. With ongoing inflation and fierce international competition, our industrial policies should support the hardworking men and women who efficiently and safely grow, mine, produce, and refine goods domestically, securing these jobs in our country rather than exporting them abroad. Simply put, we need the best data to effectively wield America’s competitive trade advantage in clean manufacturing and production.
Failed policies like a so-called “carbon tax” or “cap and trade” agenda point their fire inward at our American workers, raise costs, and unfairly penalize producers that have been reducing emissions for decades, while driving jobs and investment overseas to places with higher emissions and less regard for environmental stewardship. Let’s bolster the case against foreign competitors putting in place tariffs on American superiority, which closes markets to goods made by our workers. We can empower our industries by arming them with data provided by the passage of the PROVE IT Act.
Sincerely,
Heather Reams
President
Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions