Q&A: Progressive star on fighting gas stove, energy wars
Missouri Democratic Rep. Cori Bush spoke about helping lead a House Oversight subcommittee at the forefront on fights over gas stoves, electric vehicles and more.
House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy and Regulatory Affairs ranking
member Cori Bush (D-Mo.) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill on July 18. Francis Chung/POLITICO
E&E DAILY | Democratic Rep. Cori Bush, a progressive star who made her name battling Republicans on weighty issues like racial equity and environmental justice, may not have expect to one day be fighting over home appliances.
But as ranking member of the Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy and Regulatory Affairs, the Missouri lawmaker has found herself helping lead the Democratic defense against Republican onslaughts in the heated debate over gas stoves and water heaters.
"Our constituents come in [these hearings] to sit and to hear and to learn, and instead they have to sit in this hostile environment," said Bush of the subcommittee hearings. "Where people are yelling, and things are being said that are derogatory toward one another."
The panel, formerly called the Oversight Subcommittee on Environment, once spearheaded hundreds-of-pages-long investigations and reports into the oil industry under Democratic control in the last Congress.
But with Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) now calling the shots, the subcommittee, led by Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Texas), has changed its title and radically adjusted its focus to key Republican priorities: taking down so-called environmental, social and corporate governance investing; questioning the rollout of electric vehicles; and scrutinizing Department of Energy regulations on consumer appliances.
Democrats, however, point to Republican claims of an impending federal ban of gas stoves — a possibility that the Biden administration has said was never on the table — as a prime example of extreme partisanship under Republican leadership. Hearings often devolve into shouting matches.
There's another hearing scheduled for Tuesday afternoon on inflation and rising gasoline prices. The session is also likely to spark tense debate.
In an interview with E&E News, Bush explained how she thinks Democrats can make an impact on the subcommittee, her relationship with Republicans and even her hopes for a bipartisan toxic waste cleanup bill.
You were part of the Oversight panel on the Environment in the last Congress that investigated the oil industry. Things have changed a bit. What do you think the role of you and Democrats is on this readjusted subcommittee?
We have real issues that we are not addressing and not even speaking about. So for me, it's like bringing reality to the table with Republicans being in the majority.
[Republicans] are the ones that have the power to choose what issues are brought to the table when it comes to these committee hearings, and unfortunately, so far, we haven't seen issues being brought up that my constituents really care about. The time is just being spent on fear-mongering, reinforcing their culture wars and political theater.
I feel that it is my duty to not simply put myself in the defense position and play that position the entire time, but rather shed some light on the reality of what's going on nationwide and in my district. I always think about bringing my district and St. Louis to the table.
Someone listening to these committee hearings could come away describing the atmosphere as hostile. Would you agree with that assessment?
Oh, yeah, I think they are hostile, and I don't understand why they have to be. We can have a difference of opinion and not be hostile.
It's all a part of it being political theater. Sometimes these folks say these awful things to you, and then when you see him in the hallway, they'll say, "Hi!" It's like, keep your "Hi."
It's an uncomfortable position, and I would like it to change. No one wants to work in a hostile environment.
Democrats often say the gas stove debate is ridiculous, but it has certainly resonated in the public and in the media. Why do you think it became such a big issue?
I feel like it's because of the narrative that the Republicans tried to spread that Democrats are coming for your stove. That's an issue that is entering people's homes, so I do think that people wanted to hear about that.
But they wanted to hear about it because they were given wrong information. I just wish my Republican colleagues were as concerned about Black and brown communities on the frontlines of our climate crisis, as they are about an appliance.
Speaking of the uncomfortable environment, Republicans brought a witness to a hearing, Alex Epstein [of pro-fossil-fuel Center for Industrial Progress],that you said espoused white supremacist views. What did you make of that situation?
It speaks of [Republicans] being unserious, but also very serious. It's like both of those things.It's unserious because they knew who they were bringing to that hearing. But it's also very serious, the thing is these committee hearings aren't just for the people that are in that room, you know, this is on the record in the United States Congress where we are allsigned up to represent all of the people in our districts.
So when you have these same leaders who will bring someone like that to the table, in a congressional hearing, legitimizing and validating that person's words, it speaks to the narrative that they want the country to grab a hold of.
It was absolutely disturbing to me that they would bring someone like that to the table to speak. We can have differing opinions, but we also need to be culturally competent, and part of the cultural competence piece is starting off with not being a fascist.
There's a hope that the ranking member and chair of a subcommittee can work together on at least some issues. What do you think about that possibility with Chair Fallon in charge?
With Rep. Fallon, I guess I'll say it's been challenging. I hope that there's some areas of common good where we can work together.
For example, I'm requesting the subcommittee to conduct a filed hearing in St. Louis, on the devastating impact of the Manhattan Project and the toxic waste in our communities.I know other Republicans on the committee have faced similar issues in their districts.
It's something that I've been working with my Republicans like [Missouri] Sen. [Josh] Hawley, and I'm just hoping that the committee will be willing to take it up.
This interview has been edited for clarity and content.
By: NICO PORTUONDO
Source: E & E Daily