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When Harry was 17 years old he went to work in New Mexico's oil fields for $1.50 an hour, and he kept at it until he had his own company, employing 250 people. Most people did not expect an oil and gas man like Harry Teague to, as his first piece of legislation as a Member of Congress, introduce a bill to promote the production of green and renewable energy. But that is what he did, not only by authoring H.R. 451, to extend the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit, but also actually having it passed into law as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Petroleum and natural gas have powered our country for the good part of a century - creating lots of good American energy jobs along the way. But the U.S. holds less than 2 percent of the world's oil reserves, and we now import 60 percent of our oil from foreign sources. The foreign oil and gas we have depended on for generations has turned into a dangerous addiction. America will still need a supply of oil and gas as we work toward energy independence, and the petroleum jobs in Southern New Mexico are going to remain. What Harry wants to do is double up on energy jobs - add wind, solar and biofuel jobs to what we have now - by replacing the oil and gas we import from places like the Middle East and Venezuela with clean, renewable, American power. New Mexico can take advantage of our abundant resources - not only oil and gas, but the sun, the wind, and New Mexico's wide open spaces. By investing in renewable energy, the United States and New Mexico do three important things: 1) Create jobs and make sure that America continues to be the center of the global energy economy, 2) Crack down on global warming and protect the the environment that our children and their children will inherit, and 3) Make American safe. A nation that doesn't depend too much on others is a strong country. And that's what America needs to be. Click here to read an Opinion Editorial I wrote with T. Boone Pickens about the importance of natural gas in our future energy policy. Enacting the NAT GAS Act will promote the use of natural gas vehicles and help end America's dependence on foreign oil. Click here to read Harry Teague’s Do It All, Do It in New Mexico Energy Plan.
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