Congressman Rendition of 'Fergalicious' to Highlight Climate Change Policy: It's 'FERC-alicious'
Listen up, y'all, 'cause this is it, the beat that Rep. Sean Casten is bangin' about politics.
On Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Casten, 49, spoke about his bill related to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, also known as FERC, by remixing Fergie's hit 2006 track "Fergalicious."
First making a fun reference to Megan Thee Stallion's popular song and catchphrase, "Hot Girl Summer," Casten called his argument "hot FERC summer," before he made his case on the House floor.
"I rise to continue our celebration of hot FERC summer," the Illinois congressman began. "As climate activist Fergie would certainly say, the FERC-alicious definition is to make our planet cooler."
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"Having a well air-conditioned home when it's hot, hot? That's FERC-alicious. Getting your electricity from the lowest cost reliable source? FERC-alicious. An electric transmission system that keeps everything from electric vehicles to steel mills running with zero-carbon electricity? FERC-alicious," the lawmaker continued to sing.
The bill introduced on Wednesday, officially titled The Right to Timely Rehearings at FERC Act, "is aimed at speeding up the timeline for the agency to respond to requests for rehearing orders on its decisions," a spokesperson said, per The Hill.
Continuing his impassioned speech, Casten noted, "With record-setting heatwaves already causing deadly droughts, wildfires, and overwhelmed power grids, we've run out the clock and must transition to a clean energy economy and we need FERC's help."
The bill, Casten added, would "ensure that everyone has access to fair and timely hearings at the commission."
As his time on the podium came to an end, Casten channeled Fergie's popular 2006 tune once more, stating, with a smile, "Thank you, Madame Speaker, and I yield back so I can now go work on my fitness."
As he acknowledged in a tweet published after his remarks, the reworked song was something of a "cheesy dad joke floor speech," though Casten hedged his self-deprecation by acknowledging, "there are really important and substantive reasons to care about FERC."
Earlier in the month, Casten previously invoked "hot FERC summer" in a similar floor speech, where he addressed the crowd with references to Megan's popular rap track.
As of Wednesday, the phrase had gained enough attention that the lawmaker was selling merch centered on some of the re-worked lyrics, with Casten writing in a tweet that he was selling shirts "thankfully and — let's be honest, surprisingly — in response to market demand."
Source: Nicholas Rice