VIDEO: Heinrich Takes to Senate Floor to Urge Republican Colleagues to End Affordability Crisis Facing Working Families in New Mexico, Across the Country

Mr. President,

I have come to the Senate floor today to say what every New Mexican I know can easily tell you:

Americans are reeling from an affordability crisis.

It doesn'tmatter if you'retalking about the price of groceries, rent, or health care.

Everybody is stretched thin.

They need help, and they need it now.

And they need it from Congress and the President.

But help is not what thePresident and his administration is delivering.

Instead of working to lower health care and energy costs for American families, the President, his administration, and Republicans in Congress are choosing to drive those costs through the roof.

They repealed energy tax credits, making it harder and more expensive to build and deliver energy to the grid - or even just to put solarpanels on your own roof.

They made it more expensive to make your home energy efficient.

They imposed steep tariffs on steel and aluminum, driving up energy costs, infrastructure costs.

And they are blocking energy from coming onto the grid.

Now, if it feels chaotic, it's probably because it is: they are trying to sow chaos.

While all ofthe numbers and projects and policies float around in the headlines, the real story, the real impact is in your budget.

It'sin your electric bill.

According to the Energy Information Administration, residential electricity bills have already increased by almost 10% since President Trump took office.

Household energy costs are expected to increase by another $170 annually by 2035 thanks to the tax credit repeals and tariffs.

When it comes to the impacts on energy supply, it'sthe same story.

As of August, CleanPower estimated that 25,000megawatts, that'slike 25 gigawatts- its 25 nuclear power plants worth of energy. 25,000 megawattsof planned energy generation have been lost due to projects being canceled or delayed sincethePresident'selection.

That'smore than enough power for 8.4 million homes in the United States.

And I have bad news: it'sabout to get a whole lot worse.

That'sbecause President Trump is strangling the energy supplywe badly needto drive down costs for everyone.

From canceling energy projects, to withholding energy permits, to issuing illegal stop-work orders on fully permittedgeneration projects.

Most recently, that came in the form of canceled energy projects.

Last week, the Trump Administration unlawfully canceled nearly $8 billionin federal investments in 223 energy projects across 21 states, including ten in the state of New Mexico.

In Albuquerque, two projects by the same company were targeted.

They have already had to make their first round of layoffs.

If these awards are not restored in the next 45 days, they will be forced to lay off 50% of their workforce. These are people's lives we'retalking about.

And theirlocal partners and collaborators - who were anticipatinggrowth opportunities because of the investment- are being left in the cold.

In Socorro, New Mexico, one university lost funding for four projects - $67 million in total.

One project alone will impact36 student researchers, all of whom now have tosearch for new funding or lose their research roles altogether.

In Fruitland, New Mexico, another canceled project could have unlocked the key tokeeping 600 people working.

In Taos, New Mexico, more chaos is playing out:

Funding for Kit Carson Electric Cooperative's project to provide a battery energy storage system and microgridsto rural communities - canceled.

This project would have directly improved reliability in PicurisPueblo, the Taos Ski Valley, and El Rito West.

Millions of dollars had already been expended, and countless New Mexicans were depending on the project.

Now, they'reallleft wondering whether those funds will be reimbursed or if New Mexicans will simply be left to pay the priceand pick up the pieces.

But it looks like the cancelations may just be getting started.

This morning, there was another article about rumors of even more cancelations coming.

According to reports, this next round of cancelations could involve another 260 awards and $13 billion in revoked funds.

Whether that happensor not, I can tell you without a doubt that the harm done from the first round will be irreparable.

The cancelations will mean lost jobs for Americans, lost educational opportunities for students.

It will mean higher energy bills for households and businesses across thiscountry.

It will make it even harder for folks who are already struggling to make ends meet because of the affordability crisis instigated by this administration's tariffs and economic policy.

It will mean less domestic manufacturing and innovation, all while diminishing America's competitive leadership globally.

And it will make it harder for impacteddevelopers and utilities to secure their financing.

That'snot just true for the now-canceled projects, but also for any future opportunities that depend on the stability of things like government permits,and regulatory structure,investments, grants.

Because that'sanother casualty of this Administration's war on American-made, affordable energy: the reliability of the permitting process.

In January, on his first day in office, President Trump paused all new leasing and permitting of wind energy projects on public lands.

In February, the Army Corps of Engineers singled out and delayed 168 energy projects on private land.

In March, the Environmental Protection Agency withdrew the permit for Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind.

In April, the Department of Interior imposed a stop-work order on the Empire Wind 1 Project.

In July, the Interior Department released a directive requiring the Secretary's personal review and approval of every wind and solarenergy project on public lands, a move that will undoubtedly cause long delays.

In August, the Department of Interior issued a stop work order on Revolution Wind's offshore wind project, a project that was already 80 percent done. It was fully permitted,and it was 80 percent complete.

And they told people to go home. They said,your job doesn'tmatter.

In September, the Trump administration asked a court to cancel the permit on a wind farm off Ocean City, Maryland.

It'sa project that would generate 2.2 gigawatts of energy, enough to power 718,000 homes and just as importantly support almost 2,700 jobs every year over the next seven years.

And it'sjust among the ones that have actually beenin the news.

I'veheard from companies across the nation about delays and difficulties getting their projects permitted.

Let'sbe clear: Spending your time canceling ready-to-go energy projects isn'tdoing anything to help address the energy crisis.

Instead of fixing any of this, President Trump's Executive Order makes it worse.

Here'swhat his order actually does:

Hikes energy costs for millions of Americans by doubling down on expensive fossil fuels when it makes no economic sense.

Sends hundreds of thousands of American jobs overseas as other countries continue to develop next-generation energy sources.

Decreases our American-made domestic energy supplies.

Forces us to be more reliant on foreign energy sources.

And erodes our economic competitiveness and energy dominance.

It does not have to be this way.

The last time we faced an energy crisis in the United States, it was the 1970s.

Energy prices were skyrocketing because of the 1973 oil crisis, when barrels of oil - then our most in-demand energy source - quadrupled in price.

U.S.energy production could not meet domestic demand, and the country saw blackouts and brownouts.

With an energy crisis on its hands, Congress actually acted.

In a bipartisan effort, Congress created the Department of Energy.

It funded significant research around the country to explore new ways to power things: solar, geothermal, nuclear - including the Energy Research and Development Administration.

And it worked on advancing transmission systems to create more competitive energy markets, saving money for everyone.

Congress met the moment and defined our energy future for decades to come.

As part of that, in 1976, construction began on a five-megawatt thermal solar testfacility at the Energy Research and Development Administration's Sandia Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Before it was even