CHICAGO — Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Texas) joined us on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention for a conversation presented by ExxonMobil at Punchbowl News HQ. Fletcher projected confidence that Democrats can compete in the Lone Star State this election cycle.
The third-term lawmaker also criticized the Biden administration’s decision to pause new export applications for liquefied natural gas and lamented what she described as the politicization of energy as a “wedge issue” on Capitol Hill.
Here are some key takeaways from the conversation.
Turning Texas blue? Fletcher was very bullish on Democrats’ decadeslong dream of turning the state of Texas blue. Democrats have made such grand predictions before, but Texas remains a reliably red state.
Still, Democrats are convinced that their Senate candidate, Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), has a chance to defeat Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
“I think we’re going to see an incredibly close campaign,” Fletcher said. “What you’re seeing, too, is the infrastructure being built… It’s not just going to happen. It’s going to happen because people do the work to make it happen.”
LNG export pause: Fletcher has been critical of the Biden administration’s decision earlier this year to pause approvals of new liquified natural gas export applications. Fletcher said exporting LNG is in the economic and national security of the United States.
“The real concern is the uncertainty it creates both in the markets for our allies and others,” Fletcher said, adding that the pause affects long-term projects and contracts.
But Fletcher said she was hopeful that the Biden administration will soon conclude that exporting LNG is “the smart thing to do.”
Permitting reform: Permitting reform is a perpetual will-they-or-won’t-they conversation on Capitol Hill. There’s broad bipartisan support for making it easier for energy projects of all types to be approved, but Congress has yet to take action.
Fletcher cited the Senate Energy Committee’s recent vote to approve a bipartisan permitting reform proposal, saying she hopes it’ll be considered as part of the year-end must-pass legislative packages.
The Texas Democrat — who serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee — called the Senate bill “a really good start.” Fletcher said it’s critical for Congress to act on this subject in order to accelerate the implementation of the bipartisan bills that lawmakers passed during President Joe Biden’s first two years in office.
Fireside chat: Dr. Vijay Swarup, ExxonMobil’s senior director for climate strategy and technology, joined us afterward to continue the conversation on energy.
Swarup said permitting reform will help accelerate the nation’s energy transition, particularly allowing existing infrastructure to be repurposed for new projects.
“You’ve got to reuse that and let the technology guys figure out how to reuse the assets,” Swarup said.
Private companies should work with the federal government to meet the country’s energy demands while also reducing emissions, Swarup added.
“Who’s going to disagree with that problem statement?” Swarup said. “If you get the problem right, you have a much higher probability of getting the answer right.”
You can watch the full conversation here.
– Andrew Desiderio
