Karen A. Harbert's Testimony Before the House Energy & Commerce Committee: The Impacts and Future of North American Energy Trade

Testimony
December 13, 2017

Thank you, Chairman Upton, Ranking Member Rush, and members of the Committee. I am Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the Global Energy Institute (GEI), an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than three million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations, and dedicated to promoting, protecting, and defending America’s free enterprise system.

The mission of the GEI is to unify policymakers, regulators, business leaders, and the American public behind a common sense energy strategy to help keep America secure, prosperous, and clean. In that regard we hope to be of service to this Committee, this Congress as a whole, and the administration. 

Strategic Context

The United States, Canada, and Mexico have a long history of shared energy trade and cooperation. For most of that time, as a global economic leader and large energy user, the United States has relied on large supplies of oil and natural gas from both nations, who have been happy to supply it. Although an energy trade imbalance has been the norm, trading energy with our neighbors to the north and south provides tremendous benefit to the United States’ economic and energy security.