As families prepare for Thanksgiving, food inflation continues to be a burden. CEA’s David Holt talks about the link between energy costs and what we pay at the grocery store for food.
“The cost of farming has gone up. And so, we’ve seen farmers all over the country, including in the Midwest, paying as much as $10 billion collectively more this year than they have in previous years. So that adds to the rising cost of food,” said Consumer Energy Alliance president David Holt.
Read more – KHQA
With persistent, historically high energy prices continuing to be a drag on family budgets and the economy, CEA’s David Holt discusses how sensible energy policies can make a tangible difference for consumers.
“There is now overwhelming evidence that the Biden energy policy is inflicting direct and material harm on American families. The administration has to see this, but yet they continue to pile on bad energy ideas after bad energy idea,” said David Holt, president of the Consumer Energy Alliance.
Read more – NH Journal
CEA’s Emily Haggstrom had the opportunity to sit down with Tradeswork: The Rocky Mountain Mechanical Contractors Association Podcast to talk about training the next generation of workers for the energy field and what ideal energy policies look like.
Listen here – Tradework!
WASHINGTON – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), the leading energy and environmental advocate for families and businesses, today issued “Heat or Eat,” an analysis showing that Americans would have paid $137.4 billion more for winter heating bills this year if energy choices were taken away.
“Embarking on a crusade to electrify everything without fully considering the cost to consumers, consumer cost, energy choice or whether the necessary infrastructure is available has been the unfortunate strategy of some of our nation’s policymakers,” said CEA Midwest Executive Director Chris Ventura. “If these policies were fully enacted, according to a review of federal data, consumers would have been forced to spend $137.4 billion more on energy costs this winter. Coupled with high inflation and a looming recession, such an outcome would have been disastrous to American families and businesses.”
CEA examined the Energy Information Agency’s residential energy consumption data from the last winter heating season and applied EIA’s winter fuel cost projections to compare it with the Department of Energy’s average cost for residential energy.
While winter fuel prices will remain at elevated levels for most Americans, some price relief will come to those heating their homes with natural gas and propane, demonstrating these energy choices continue to offer a reliable, affordable contribution to America’s energy mix. Families who use natural gas will see home energy cost savings of 21% versus last winter. This finding stands in stark contrast to political arguments claiming America’s record natural gas production and exports would raise prices at home.
“With renewed turmoil in the Middle East, no American should accept the risk of political attempts to arbitrarily limit our energy choices. Policies that restrict energy choice and limit American energy production neglectfully increase the prices Americans pay, forcing them to choose between heating their homes or feeding their families,” Ventura said.
“The only remedy for America’s families is an inclusive set of energy policies designed to balance the need for reliable, affordable, and environmentally-sustainable energy,” Ventura said. “Sadly, the federal government and some states have all but declared war on traditional American energy. They have limited development on federal lands and waters, fought or blocked critical energy infrastructure, attempted to eliminate essential energy options and otherwise used expansive regulatory authority to pick energy winners – leaving American families with a losing hand. These misguided policies are doubly frustrating because they offer no environmental benefit; and, in some states in the northeast, have been shown to actually harm our environmental progress.”
“It is time for policymakers to acknowledge their mistakes, take time to better understand how energy, infrastructure and transmission work together, and embrace commonsense policies that ensure we have an affordable, reliable, and environmentally sustainable energy supply.”
Click here to view the full analysis.
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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
(202) 657-2855
bhull@consumerenergyalliance.org
CEA President David Holt joined KTRH to discuss the challenges of integrating intermittent energy resources onto the grid, and how we can alleviate these challenges to ensure more renewables can be safely integrated in our electricity mix.
Listen here – KTRH AM 740
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), the leading energy and environmental advocate for families and businesses, issued the following statement after the Biden Administration’s decision to advance seven regional hydrogen hubs across the nation with $7 billion in U.S. federal grants.
“CEA applauds the Biden Administration for taking this important step in advancing hydrogen development in the United States. There is no question that we need more, not less American energy and energy infrastructure in order to meet demand and ensure a future where energy is affordable and reliable for families and businesses,” CEA Rockies Executive Director Emily Haggstrom said. “Incorporating hydrogen into our energy mix is a huge win for consumers everywhere.”
“The seven regional hydrogen hubs will operate in 16 states – creating jobs in dozens of communities and economic opportunities across the country.”
“American innovation, energy expertise and a strong commitment to our environment has made the United States a global leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Steps like the one taken today will help us to continue leading the world in environmental stewardship while meeting our demand for energy,” Haggstrom said. “CEA encourages the Administration to support a balanced mix of energy sources, including oil, gas and renewables to continue to achieve the affordable and reliable energy American families and businesses need.”
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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
(202) 657-2855
bhull@consumerenergyalliance.org
CEA President David Holt joined KTRH to discuss recent attempts to limit consumer choice in the automotive marketplace by banning cars and trucks powered by gas and diesel.
Listen here – KTRH AM 740
Houston, TX – Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA), the leading energy and environmental advocate for families and businesses, released a new analysis detailing how high energy prices caused by bad policies have led to significant increases in operating and transportation expenses for America’s farmers and ranchers, leading to increased food costs for families and restaurants.
“Americans always notice when food and gas prices go up because they can see the money leaving their wallets at the pump, or know that they paid less last month for eggs at the cash register,” CEA Midwest Director Chis Ventura said. “There is a direct and immediate correlation between the two – higher energy prices mean higher farming, ranching and transportation costs that cause the price of food and groceries prices to rise, taking more money out of family pockets. It is an inescapable, iron law of consumer prices that policymakers ignore at their own – and American families’ – peril.”
“Restaurants across the country are also feeling the pain of higher food costs and are either shouldering the cost burden, passing it on to the customer, or juggling both. It’s unfortunate that we keep seeing energy policy decisions untethered from the real-world financial impact on families and businesses,” Ventura said.
The report found that using the USDA monthly budget recommendations for groceries, the average American family of four will pay nearly $15,656 in 2023 for food, a projected increase of 5.8%. That follows 2022, a year in which Americans spent more on food than ever before in part because of a price increase of almost 10% – or three times the 20-year average. That’s a nearly $2,500 increase in just two years. It is an especially punishing cost for the 11.4% of Americans living below the poverty line, which for a family of four is defined as earning less than $25,926.
“Food costs that approach 60% percent of a family’s income cannot be sustained. Energy costs are the biggest driver of food inflation, so it’s imperative that our lawmakers realize misguided, factually unsupportable policies that make energy less affordable makes food more expensive and less abundant. CEA strongly encourages the enactment of commonsense policies that preserve all energy options and that work for our families and our farmers. Policymakers must ensure Americans can count on affordable energy and abundant food, two staples no one should have to go without.”
CEA will release updates to its Agriculture Report every October.
Click here to view the analysis.
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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
(202) 657-2855
bhull@consumerenergyalliance.org
• With Inflation Rampant and Oil Prices over $90, More – Not Less – Energy Needed
• Plan Cuts Acreage in One of World’s Least Carbon-Intensive Offshore Basins; Will Lead to More Imported Oil
WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior’s long-delayed, legally-mandated Outer Continental Shelf five-year leasing program is and has been a multi-year exercise in needlessly raising prices for Americans and limiting the essential energy development the U.S. needs to defend energy security and make constant environmental improvement, Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) said today.
The plan released today includes a maximum of three Gulf of Mexico leases, and the Interior Department noted that three was the absolute minimum number it was required to issue. No other leases are proposed anywhere else on the Outer Continental Shelf.
“You know who is forgotten in this failure of a plan? American families. Families who are already paying too much at the pump and in their monthly electric bills. Families who are seeing first-hand the significant impact high energy prices have on inflation – raising the cost of literally everything,” CEA President David Holt said. “Families on fixed incomes living in disadvantaged communities who, more than any of us, cannot afford to keep paying the high prices Biden Administration policies are causing.”
“All this is to serve the false narrative that the only way to achieve environmental progress is by eliminating natural gas and oil. This is a demonstrable lie and impossible to achieve, as similar plans have led to costly failures in Europe and California. We must have oil and gas to meet our most basic needs and we are proving that we can have oil and gas and achieve our environmental goals,” Holt said.
“This plan is an insult to Republicans and Democrats across the nation. All voters should pay attention to how destructive doomed-to-fail energy policies are to our nation, our economy and their wallets, and vote accordingly, regardless of party,” Holt said.
Forcing this long-delayed plan out of the Interior Department has required lawsuits, endless pressure, and a literal act of Congress, all while Americans faced near-record energy prices and witnessed an almost complete drawdown of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
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About Consumer Energy Alliance
Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) is the leading voice for sensible energy and environmental policies for consumers, bringing together families, farmers, small businesses, distributors, producers, and manufacturers to support America’s environmentally sustainable energy future. With more than 550,000 members nationwide, we are committed to leading the nation’s dialogue around energy, its critical role in the economy, and how it supports the vital supply chains for the families and businesses that depend on them. CEA works daily to encourage communities across the nation to seek sensible, realistic, and environmentally responsible solutions to meet our nation’s energy needs.
Contact:
Bryson Hull
(202) 657-2855
bhull@consumerenergyalliance.org
