Despite the joy and reverence in recognizing Jesus’ birth yesterday, Americans faced a hard reality – the costs of celebrating Christmas in 2024 for the average family were up over 5% from last year. Certainly, the costs of both raw materials and manufactured goods have increased, but so also has the expense of moving those items and the services rendered in producing them. I know I can’t be alone in cringing at the increased cost of undertaking humble but special family traditions, be it the price tag on eggs needed to make divinity, my father’s favorite Christmas candy, or the expense of mailing my daughters’ handmade Christmas gifts to my in-laws in South Carolina.

There is a common denominator in the near-universal sticker shock we all have experienced this holiday season, and that is the Biden administration’s attack on American energy, an attack that not only harms our economy but also jeopardizes our national security. One such example is the Natural Gas Tax rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), authorized by the so-called “Inflation Reduction” Act of 2022 -legislation that has, in reality, only made inflation worse, driving up costs of fertilizer used to grow our food, the power used to manufacture our goods, and the fuel to transport those products. The Natural Gas Tax is yet another attempt by the far left to pick winners and losers in the energy sector, sacrificing the American consumer at the altar of so-called sustainable practices that ignore the prevalence of our country’s God-given natural resources – and make the world less secure in doing so. Senator Katie Britt sees through the sham of the Natural Gas Tax and just last week co-sponsored a resolution to block its implementation. The introduction of this resolution was overshadowed by all the theatrics surrounding the House funding deal, but it is vital to curbing inflation and enabling American energy dominance. As such, we, as Alabamians, should be proud of Senator Britt’s actions in standing up to the heavy-handed hypocrisy of the Biden administration.

If implemented, the Natural Gas Tax will have the effect of driving up costs for consumers, as well as killing jobs in the American energy sector and precluding further innovation and exploration of this energy source. Natural gas usage is particularly prevalent in Europe and Latin America, and global demand for liquified natural gas (LNG) is estimated to increase by 50% in the next 15 years. The Natural Gas Tax will stymie the growth of the American natural gas industry and, in doing so, increase global dependency on Russia, i.e., directly funding more acts of aggression by Putin.

Economics and national security aside, the abundance of our natural gas stores, combined with the number of individuals throughout the world who still lack access to reliable energy, results in a moral obligation on our part to responsibly develop this resource. Our environment benefits, too, as natural gas combustion produces around 40% fewer carbon dioxide emissions than coal and 20% fewer than oil, as well as virtually no fine particulate matter. Biden’s attack on natural gas ignores the benefits of this resource to our national economy, global security, and environmental vitality.

In addition to the policy implications above, allowing implementation of the Natural Gas Tax could set a dangerous precedent when it comes to the already-overreaching powers of the EPA. The meager statutory language in the Inflation Reduction Act that establishes the Natural Gas Tax seems to endow the EPA with tax-collecting authority absent virtually any oversight. If allowed to proceed, this tax framework could be emulated to enable the EPA to similarly assess and target any number of industries based on the policy preferences of the administration in charge. The Natural Gas Tax, therefore, poses a threat not only to the global geopolitical balance of power but also to our own government’s balance of power, and it should be rescinded.

For all of the reasons above, I fully support Senator Britt’s actions in blocking the implementation of the Natural Gas Tax. In this season of so many blessings, let us also be grateful for common-sense leadership like hers, which combats governmental overreach, unleashes American energy independence, and, just as importantly, makes Christmas more affordable for all of us next year.

Caroleene Dobson is an attorney, wife, and mother raised on her family’s fifth-generation cattle farm in Beatrice, Alabama. She was the Republican nominee for Congress in Alabama’s Second Congressional District.