House GOP targets Biden ‘social cost’ policy for rising energy prices

FIRST ON FOX – House Republicans are moving to roll back a progressive Obama-era regulatory metric for greenhouse gas emissions, arguing that it’s sandbagging the U.S. energy sector by using “nonscientific” standards.

“North Carolinians are struggling to fill up their tanks and pay their electricity bills. The last thing they are worried about is the ‘social cost’ of energy,” Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., told Fox News Digital.

“We need to be unleashing American energy to lower prices, not crippling production with burdensome, costly regulations.”

Hudson, who also chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, is leading 12 fellow GOP lawmakers in introducing a bill to stop federal agencies using the “social cost of carbon” when creating new regulations for the U.S. energy sector.

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Rep. Richard Hudson is leading Republicans on legislation to stop administrations from using the “social cost” metric when creating energy regulations. (Getty Images)

Models calculating the “social cost” of greenhouse gases use several factors, including population health, sea level changes, economic impacts and other human-felt costs.

Because of the vastly different indicators, “social cost” emissions projections can vary widely, according to the Brookings Institute.

It was first used as a federal regulatory tool under the Obama administration but was rolled back by former President Trump.

President Biden made it part of his clean energy plan when he took office, directing a task force to study where federal agencies should consider the “social cost of greenhouse gases” as part of an executive order titled “Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.”

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The metric was first considered federally under the Obama administration. (Michelle Gustafson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Democrats have held it up as a necessary tool that presents a more holistic picture for the long-term harms of carbon pollution.

Republicans, however, have criticized the metric as a nonscientific tool that’s responsible for burdensome regulations.

Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla., a co-sponsor of the bill, said the “social cost” metric and the Biden administration’s green energy push overall was pushing gas prices up.

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“It’s just a fact that government interference in the energy industry has directly contributed to these rising costs. No more manipulated studies and biased research – the American people deserve transparent and honest information,” Hern told Fox News Digital.

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Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, another co-sponsor of the bill, said, “The Biden-Harris White House has proven their willingness to hide behind biased and flawed research to advance their war against American energy producers.”

“The White House should unleash clean, affordable American energy to bring costs down for the American people,” he said.

The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.