The Top 5 Myths About the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act

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http://www.thenation.com/article/169392/top-5-myths-about-domestic-energy-and-jobs-act

While debating the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act (DEJA) on the House floor in June, Michigan Republican Fred Upton called the legislation a “win-win.” You might assume that the winning going on would benefit the American people, but as California Democrat Henry Waxman warned, H.R. 4480 is a Trojan horse. While the DEJA claims to be about creating jobs and lowering gas prices, the bill’s real goal is to dismantle the country’s environmental policies.

Passed in June in the House, and currently in the Senate, the seven bills that make up the Domestic Energy and Jobs Act would be devastating to the environment. The radical package of bills aims to increase the land available for oil and gas drilling and dismantle the core of the existing Clean Air Act. (You can read what the seven bills are, and who introduced them here.) A staggering 248 House members voted for the DEJA, touting it as the solution for hard economic times. Here’s how they argued for its passage, and why they’re wrong.

1. The bill will “lower future prices at the pump.” — Representative Fred Upton, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Representative Upton iterated on the House floor what all those in favor of the bill have said: if you pass this bill, gasoline will be cheaper. According to these representatives, the DEJA will do this by increasing domestic oil drilling.