Unanimous Consent Request--S. 4217 Publication: Congressional Record Date: 14 June 2022

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I would actually ask, in response, 
that we pass a different measure, and I would ask unanimous consent 
that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be 
discharged from further consideration of S. 4217, and the Senate 
proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be 
considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. MARSHALL. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I think we should start calling 
electric cars coal-powered cars. We should start thinking about a 
cradle-to-grave environmental impact to some of the alternatives, but I 
want to reassure to my colleague, the folks on the other side of the 
aisle, that I want to leave this world cleaner, healthier, and safer 
than we found it.
  But on the other hand, we can't create such high inflation with 
reckless

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spending and energy policies that stifle American energy. I do believe 
that there is a balance. I do believe that there are opportunities, but 
we can't go from zero to 90 miles an hour overnight, nor can we throw 
the brakes on our current energy supply.
  I grew up in the oil patch. I lived in the oil patch. The prices of 
oil are being driven up by the uncertainty created by this 
administration. Make no mistake about it, the price of oil is people 
who are thinking about investing, what will they get 2 years from now? 
It would take 2 years probably to see any type of return on investment 
from an oilfield exploration.
  But this President and his policies, his regulations continue to 
create uncertainty and drive the price up for all Americans.
  Just the thought of $5-a-gallon gasoline makes my heart shiver. The 
people I talk to back home, there is no conversation I am going to have 
without someone bringing up the price of gasoline right now.
  And I am so proud that we are taking traditional energies, and we are 
making them cleaner; that we are using biofuels to help decrease the 
tailpipe emissions through E15 year round and higher ethanol as well. I 
am proud of the biodiesel that we are using as well.
  I think that there are incredible opportunities out there, but 
inflation, reckless spending inflation, driving up the price of 
gasoline very purposefully is what this President has accomplished, and 
it is hurting people back home.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. My colleague may care to object.
  Mr. MARSHALL. So I object to Senator Whitehouse.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Or at least to the motion I propounded anyway.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Yes, I specifically object to the motion. My apologies.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Senator Whitehouse, of course, as well, but I think 
the intention was to object to the measure.
  I see that my friend Senator Barrasso has joined us. I had mentioned 
zettajoules. I want to add one other figure. This is from a report by 
the corporate accounting and consulting firm, Deloitte Consulting, 
which has said that if we don't get ahead of this climate problem that 
my colleague seems so scrupulously interested in ignoring, the cost to 
society in the next five decades will be, if I remember correctly--the 
number is $178 trillion in economic harm across those years.
  You want to talk about big numbers? And if we do get it right, if we 
grow up, treat this as a factual scientific problem and put in serious, 
real economic solutions, then the win side is $43 trillion.
  So the swing is $220 trillion. You want to talk about big numbers? 
That is a big number. And it is going to depend on decisions we make 
now, and I hope we start making good decisions.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.