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DOLLY PARTON AND THE HOT FERC SUMMER
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Casten) for 5 minutes.
Mr. CASTEN. Madam Speaker, I rise to declare for now the end of Hot FERC Summer.
Sixty-four days ago I kicked off Hot FERC Summer with Megan Thee Stallion and then Fergie to elevate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's critical role in solving the climate crisis, and to urge the White House to nominate a fifth FERC commissioner.
Some, even in this Chamber, have lamented the bad dad jokes and puns, and many have asked what does this have to do with climate change?
Here's the thing. For far too long we have just used FERC's mind and we never gave them credit. And, frankly, allowing the most important Federal agency to fight climate change to continue to go unnoticed and short staffed, well, that would have driven me crazy, if I had let it.
I am thrilled to report that the President has embraced that Hot FERC Summer spirit and nominated Willie Phillips, taking us one step closer to restoring FERC to its full strength, enabling us to make this transition to clean energy at the pace the climate crisis demands.
Those commissioners and their hardworking, underappreciated staff, they are FERCalicious.
But they can't start working yet, and that is why today I am calling on my Senate colleagues to prioritize the confirmation hearings for Mr. Phillips so that he can start FERCing 9 to 5.
You see, when you tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen, pour yourself a cup of that ambition, your alarm clock, the lights, the hot coffee, they are in part, in no small part, thanks to the folks at FERC who are working to ensure that robust transmission system that we take for granted every day.
And when you jump in the shower hot enough that your blood starts pumping and drive out to the street before the traffic starts jumping, the charging networks for all those electric vehicles that stay cheap and reliable are also thanks to the folks FERCing 9 to 5.
FERCing 9 to 5, what a way to save the planet. We will not slow down this rapid acceleration of devastating wildfires, hurricanes, heat waves and blackouts that have already impacted one in three Americans this summer until we build out a zero-carbon energy system. With FERC's help, we can turn this ship around, if we let it.
FERCing 9 to 5, what a way to save the economy. Every day FERC helps make sure that energy isn't just a rich man's game. They have the ability and the authority to bring about this clean energy transition while keeping our energy markets competitive, reliable, and affordable to make sure that your utility isn't just taking without giving.
So why FERC? Couldn't we just do this in Congress?
Well, as long as the Senate prioritizes the preservation of the filibuster over the preservation of the planet, a fully staffed, climate-focused FERC will remain the most powerful, most important, and maybe the only tool we have to get to a low-cost, zero-carbon economy at the pace that the crisis demands.
But let's be clear: Getting FERC fully staffed is necessary but insufficient. Once fully staffed, they have got a lot of work to do. We need new rules to debottleneck our inter-regional transmission system to deliver clean, cheap, and reliable energy to all Americans--and thank you to my friend Senator Heinrich, and fellow nerd engineer, on that front--to ensure that market rules incentivize clean energy investments to decarbonize our system and lower the cost of energy, even as those investments lower the resulting cash flows; to ensure that the economic gains of zero-carbon energy are equitably shared by investors, by consumers, and by workers; to make sure that long-
subsidized but inherently uneconomic fossil fuel plants can transition offline without unduly burdening consumers.
That stuff is really complicated. But the simple and important truth is that we don't have to keep paying too much for dirty energy. We don't have to accept the fossil-fuel-funded false dichotomy between our morals and our wallets. There is a better life, Madam Speaker, and you think about it, don't you?
FERC is the place where we can preserve a livable planet for ourselves, for our kids, for our grandkids. We are all in the same boat; and with FERC's help, the tide is going to come in and it is going to roll our way.
So at the end of Hot FERC Summer, the day after the 21st night of September, thank you to Megan, Fergie, and Dolly for the inspiration, and for helping me ensure that my daughters, however embarrassed they may now be, can inherit a livable planet. Thanks to all who paid attention, helped me prove that FERC is indeed hot enough to warrant this level of attention, and moved us a little closer, a little quicker to a fully functioning Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. And thanks to all the incredibly dedicated staff at the Commission for all you do FERCing 9 to 5 to protect our future.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 164
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