Testimony of SELC Senior Attorney Megan C. Gibson before the House Natural Resources Committee on “American Energy Dominance”

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Megan Gibson, testified before the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations at the hearing, “Unleashing the Golden Age of American Energy Dominance.” 

In their testimony, Gibson discussed how clean energy and grid modernization are key to securing America’s energy future in a way that benefits all Americans. Across the South, in states like North Carolina and Texas, renewable energy is lifting communities by strengthening local economies, reducing consumer energy costs, creating jobs, and improving grid reliability, including during extreme weather events. In 2023 alone, 149,000 new clean energy jobs were added nationwide.

While describing the growth of renewables, Gibson also noted the need to modernize our outdated, fragmented transmission system and increase transmission capacity to meet rising demand and unlock America’s full potential. Gibson also called on members of the Subcommittee to prioritize investing in a clean, modern, resilient energy system instead of expensive, polluting, and risky fossil fuels to ensure lasting economic and national security benefits while positioning the U.S. at the forefront of the global energy transition.

“We have before us a clear choice and a remarkable opportunity. We can embrace the rapid growth of clean energy and invest in a modern grid, securing American energy dominance in a form that is sustainable and beneficial to our people,” said Megan Gibson, Senior Attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “Or we can cling to the status quo of fossil dependence, and in doing so, forfeit our leadership, burden our citizens with avoidable costs, and leave ourselves more vulnerable to escalating, deadly and expensive floods, storms, and droughts.”

Megan C. Gibson’s full testimony

Megan Gibson is a Senior Attorney in the Energy Program at the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), focusing on energy policy across the Southeast and at the federal level.