Senator Ted Cruz Introduces Bill to Repeal Biden’s Natural Gas Tax

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz introduced legislation to repeal the natural gas tax included in the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, a release posted on Cruz’s website recently announced.

Rigzone asked the Cruz camp what effect this tax would have on U.S. oil and gas producers and consumers. Responding to the question, Cruz’s team sent Rigzone a quote from the senator, which stated, “Joe Biden and Biden officials have proven time and time again that they care more about their radical climate agenda the needs of the American people”.

“They have driven up inflation and jeopardized American jobs and energy security, all of which would be made significantly worse by the methane emissions fee in the Inflation Reduction Act,” Cruz added in the quote.

“This fee will particularly harm Texas by undermining producers in the Permian Basin and across the state,” Cruz continued.

The bill still needs to pass the senate, the house, and then go to the president to become law, the Congress website shows. It has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works, according to the site.

Cruz’s bill is co-sponsored by Senators Roger Marshall, Mike Lee, Pete Ricketts, Cindy Hyde-Smith, John Hoeven, Katie Britt, Mike Braun, Tommy Tuberville, J.D. Vance, Tom Cotton, and John Barrasso, the release on Cruz’s website revealed. Congressman August Pfluger introduced the companion legislation in the U.S. House of the Representatives, which passed earlier in the 118th Congress, the release noted.

“President Biden’s tax on natural gas production does nothing but make it harder to produce American-made energy while driving up costs,” Pfluger said in the release.

“Congress must take action to repeal this looming regulatory disaster. The House has already passed my legislation to repeal the tax, and I am proud to work alongside Senator Cruz to get it to the President’s desk. Energy security is national security,” he added.

In response to Cruz introducing legislation to repeal the natural gas tax, Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) President and CEO Jeff Eshelman posted a statement on the organization’s site.

“The methane tax that was included in the Inflation Reduction Act seriously complicates industry efforts to plan and comply with EPA and state regulations that address emissions from oil and natural gas production,” Eshelman said in that statement.

“The tax was passed without appropriate understanding of its impact or safeguards. IPAA supports Senator Cruz’s legislation to repeal the misguided tax on American energy producers,” he added.

Rigzone has asked the White House, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency for comment on the Cruz website release, the statement sent to Rigzone from the Cruz camp, and the IPAA statement. At the time of writing, none of the departments have responded to Rigzone yet.

In a statement posted on its site on May 6, the EPA announced that it had issued a final rule “to strengthen, expand, and update methane emissions reporting requirements for petroleum and natural gas systems under EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, as required by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act”.

“The final revisions will ensure greater transparency and accountability for methane pollution from oil and natural gas facilities by improving the accuracy of annual emissions reporting from these operations,” the EPA added in the statement.

EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan noted in that statement, “as we implement the historic climate programs under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, EPA is applying the latest tools, cutting edge technology, and expertise to track and measure methane emissions from the oil and gas industry”.

“Together, a combination of strong standards, good monitoring and reporting, and historic investments to cut methane pollution will ensure the U.S. leads in the global transition to a clean energy economy,” he added.

Source: www.rigzone.com