Resident Commissioner Criticizes Puerto Rico Government’s Decision to Leave $1.3 Billion for Clean Energy on the Table

Click HERE for the Resident Commissioner’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a hearing of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner, Pablo José Hernández Rivera, sharply criticized the Puerto Rican government’s decision to forgo up to $1.3 billion in funds intended to improve the island’s energy system.

“The government of a bankrupt island with a collapsed electric grid has decided to drop a billion-dollar lawsuit against oil companies and reject $365 million that this committee allocated to install solar panels in vulnerable communities,” said Hernández during his remarks.

The congressman, who is a member of the Natural Resources Committee and one of its youngest members, lamented what he described as “an unprecedented attack on our natural resources and on the planet my generation will inherit.”

Hernández recalled that these funds were allocated in 2022 specifically to provide reliable energy to Puerto Rico’s poorest residents, and that the lawsuit against the oil companies sought justice for communities affected by pollution and rising energy costs.

“Politics is about choices,” stated the congressman. “Some choose to appease polluting interests. I choose to fight alongside their victims.”

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