31 Jan 2023 Project 21 to Testify Before House Energy and Commerce Committee in First Hearing of 118th Congress

Biden Energy Policies Threaten Minority Families and Businesses

Washington, D.C. – Donna Jackson – the Director of Membership Development for Project 21, the black leadership network of the National Center for Public Policy Research – will testify today before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce for the second time this year. The hearing, titled “American Energy Expansion: Strengthening Economic, Environmental and National Security,” is its first hearing of the 118th Congress.

Just a few years after the United States became a net energy exporter for the first time in decades, the Biden Administration’s restrictive policies – combined with a push toward expensive and unreliable green alternatives – have once again made the U.S. a net energy importer. This has resulted in enormous spikes in the price of reliable and once-affordable fossil fuels. According to Project 21’s Blueprint for a Better Deal for Black America, escalating energy costs are felt throughout the economy but are especially devastating for black families who often live paycheck-to-paycheck and for minority small business entrepreneurs struggling to survive.

“Unaffordable energy also means less of the industrial employment that has historically led to the emergence of a vibrant black middle class,” states Jackson in her prepared remarks. “Without these high paying blue-collar gateway jobs, low-income and minority communities have fewer options to earn what is needed for home ownership and decreasing the wealth gap.”

“Every extra penny struggling households must spend on expensive energy is a penny we can’t save for home ownership or our children’s education or retirement savings as well as other things that build family wealth and help lift up the next generation,” Jackson adds.

Donna Jackson’s statement on behalf of Project 21 can be viewed here.

The event will be livestreamed here starting at 11:00 am ET.

Project 21, a leading voice of black conservatives for over 25 years, is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research. Its members have been quoted, interviewed or published over 50,000 times since the program was created in 1992. Contributions to the National Center are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated and may be earmarked exclusively for the use of Project 21.

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