Energy

Sky-rocketing energy prices are impacting North Carolina’s economy and its residents, often hitting rural communities the hardest. We must invest in long-term strategies to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and Congress must also take steps to stabilize prices in the short run.

Protecting Consumers from Unfair Market Practices
As Chairman of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management of the House Agriculture Committee in the 111th Congress, which has jurisdiction over the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), I introduced legislation to help ensure that sky-rocketing energy costs are not being artificially increased by manipulation and excessive speculation in energy markets. H.R. 6604, The Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act of 2008, will give the CFTC more resources and authority to weed out potential manipulation and excessive speculation in energy futures trading.

During three days of hearings in July, experts testified that reigning in excessive speculation could be one of the only measures that would impact energy prices in the near future. I carefully crafted this legislation to ensure that it would not affect proper market activity and would restore consumer confidence in the market.

The House voted on this legislation in July under suspension of the rules, a process where non-controversial bills are expedited and require a two-thirds vote to pass. The bill was 13 votes short of passing.

Increasing Domestic Oil Supply
Although drilling alone will not get us out of our energy crisis, increasing our domestic oil supply should be one component of a long-term energy plan. In July I voted in favor of H.R. 6515, The Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands (DRILL) Act. This legislation requires oil and gas companies to drill on the 68 million acres of federal land, both onshore and offshore, that they hold leases for but are not drilling on. The bill would also speed the production of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which is already open to drilling and there is existing pipeline that reaches within 5 miles of the reserve. Unfortunately, the bill failed to garner the two-thirds required to pass H.R. 6515 on a party-line vote of 244 – 173.

I also voted with my colleagues in the House to pass H.R. 6022, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve Fill Suspension and Consumer Protection Act on May 13, 2007. This bill called on the President to temporarily suspend shipments of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The bill became law and on May 16, the President halted these shipments, putting 70,000 additional barrels of oil onto the market each day.

Investing in Renewable Fuels
To truly end our dependence on foreign oil, we must invest in home-grown renewable fuels. I was also pleased to work on the Agriculture Committee to write and pass the 2008 Farm Bill. This historic legislation, for the first time, includes an energy title. The bill provides more than $1.1 billion for renewable energy. This money will support research into bioenergy, incentives for cellulosic ethanol research, and additional loan guarantee programs to encourage production of energy crops. The bill also reduces the subsidy for corn-based ethanol, and provides a subsidy for cellulosic, non-food sources of ethanol.

Improving Vehicle Efficiency
I am proud that for the first time in a generation, Congress voted in December 2007 to improve CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) Standards. The Energy Independence and Security Act will reduce dependence on foreign oil by increasing vehicle efficiency to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. This change will save American families between $700 and $1000 a year at the gas pump and reduce oil consumption by 1.1 million barrels a day. The bill will also save consumers money by improving energy efficiency on a wide range of appliances, lighting, products and buildings.