Rep. Hudson, RSC HEAT Team Introduce Legislation to End Weaponized Regulations on American Energy

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senator James Lankford (R-OK), Representative Richard Hudson (NC-09), Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman August Pfluger (TX-11), and RSC HEAT Chair Troy Balderson (OH-12) introduced the Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act, which would prohibit federal agencies from using flawed “social cost of carbon” estimates in federal rulemakings. These arbitrary and politicized estimates were used by the Obama and Biden administrations to implement a radical climate agenda and impose excessive regulations on American energy. 

More recently, President Trump issued an Executive Order, Unleashing American Energy, which disbanded the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases and directed the EPA to consider eliminating social cost of carbon calculations. As part of the EPA’s historic deregulatory efforts, Administrator Lee Zeldin has initiated a process to overhaul the previous administration’s estimates. Following the introduction of this critical piece of legislation, members released the following statements: 

“Under President Trump, American energy dominance is back, and states like Oklahoma are fueling the charge,” said Senator James Lankford (R-OK). “This bill pushes back on the Biden Administration’s war on American energy producers by ensuring federal rulemaking is grounded in facts—not flawed models or political agendas. It’s a necessary step to restore transparency, rein in government overreach, and keep American energy competitive.”

“The Biden-Harris Administration used every tool at their disposal to advance their radical green agenda. My bill ensures that going forward, no Administration can use inaccurate, unreliable standards to pass dangerous regulations,” said Rep. Richard Hudson (NC-09).

“American energy is the backbone of our economy, but previous administrations have weaponized biased ‘social cost of carbon’ estimates to impose costly job-killing regulations,” said RSC Chairman August Pfluger (TX-11). “The Transparency and Honesty in Energy Regulations Act will put an end to this madness and unleash a new era of American energy dominance. I thank Senator Lankford and Representative Hudson for leading this effort alongside RSC’s HEAT taskforce to codify President Trump’s pro-energy agenda into law.”

“As Administrator Zeldin noted last month in his historic deregulatory announcement, social cost of carbon hurts the United States’ global competitiveness and increases our reliance on foreign energy producers. I applaud Representative Hudson and Senator Lankford for leading this important bill,” said RSC HEAT Chairman Rep. Troy Balderson (OH-12).