Energy Independence

It is vital to our national and economic security that our nation had access to affordable and abundant supplies of energy so that we can power our homes, fuel our cars, and cook our meals.  That’s why we must not be reliant on foreign sources of energy and that instead we are North American energy independent.  As a result of the shale revolution, our nation is experiencing an energy boom and is on track to be the world’s top oil producer by 2015 – something that less than a decade ago was all but unthinkable.  Additionally, our nation posses coal reserves that have an energy equivalency greater than all the known oil reserves in the Middle East.  However, in addition to developing our nation’s traditional sources of energy, we must also work to develop and ensure that alternative energy sources, like hydrogen fuel cells and solar power, are part of a long-term energy strategy.  I strongly support energy policies that take an “all the above” approach to solving our nations’ energy needs in both the short term and the long term future.  Ultimately, we need energy policies that result in the production of more energy with the stamp, “Made in the U.S.A.”

• I successfully co-led an effort in 2008 to secure enough support in the House of Representatives to sustain a presidential veto of spending bills had they contained an extension of the congressional moratorium on offshore energy exploration and production.  In late 2008, Congress did not renew the congressional moratorium. 
• I have cosponsored “all-of-the-above” energy legislation to increase the production of all kinds of American energy, including conventional, nuclear, renewable, and alternative sources of energy.
• I introduced legislation in the 110th and 111th Congresses that would repeal Section 526 of the 2007 Energy Bill. Section 526 prevents the federal government from purchasing energy derived from unconventional sources, such as oil sands and oil shale.  Repeal of this provision would enable the federal government to use its purchasing power to spur advances in alternative fuels derived from unconventional sources.
• I have supported numerous pieces of legislation to ensure the current energy boom is not derailed and encourage greater American energy production by rolling back excessive and unnecessary Washington red tape.