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Energy & Environment

Congresswoman Ellmers firmly believes that the United States should pursue a comprehensive policy toward energy production. Because of this, she supports an all-of-the-above energy approach which includes development of alternative energy sources such as nuclear, wind, solar, and biomass, along with drilling for oil and natural gas.

 As the world’s third largest producer of crude oil, largest producer of natural gas, and second largest producer of coal, our domestic production of traditional energy sources will continue to play an important role in our energy supply. Congresswoman Ellmers believes we must increase access to all domestic oil and natural gas resources, and unleash the power of American enterprise to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

 At the same time, abundant energy need not come at the expense of the environment. Developing carbon capture and storage, clean coal, biofuels, and other clean fossil fuel technologies will help us use our critical fuel stocks in a more environmentally responsible manner, while providing critical increases in production capacity.

 Renewable resources hold great promise to diversify our energy supply.  Just as we have in North Carolina, Congresswoman Ellmers feels that our nation needs to continue to invest in renewable resources to make them more competitive, available, and affordable. However, as we continue to search for new energy alternatives, she knows that we cannot ignore the vast resources at our disposal now.

After being elected to her second term in 2012, Congresswoman Ellmers was appointed to the House Energy and Commerce Committee where she serves on the Health, Communications and Technology, and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittees.

At Strata Solar Farm ribbon cutting in Erwin, North Carolina,  August 13, 2014.

Legislation related to Energy and the Environment

-Signed a letter to Administrator McCarthy of the EPA, led by Reps. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Doyle (D-PA) inquiring about the EPA’s plan to update the federal standard on aftermarket catalytic converters that has been in place since 1986.  “It is our sincere hope that you will make modernizing this standard a top priority for the Agency, as the adoptions of differing standards from state to state has begun and is leading to consumer confusion, industry uncertainty and a dilution of the overall goal, which is to reduce emissions.”

-Signed onto a letter to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane,led by the Energy and Commerce Committee, requesting the next steps in the Waste Confidence draft final rule and other questions regarding the NRC’s two-year licensing moratorium.

-Original Co-Sponsor of H.J. Res. 118- Sponsored by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) - disapproves of a rule submitted by EPA allowing them to garnish wages of anyone who has been accused of violating EPA rules without a court order. By using the Congressional Review Act, this disapproval would stop the rule.

-Signed onto a letter to Administrator Shelanski of the OMB,led by Rep. Nunnelee (R-MS). The letter opposes the EPA’s proposed 2011 rule that seeks to modify and expand EPA’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act “Definition of Solid Waste” (DSW), limiting regulatory exclusions for industrial recycling.  

-Signed onto a letter to the EPA, led by Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) and Rep. Schrader (D-OR), asking them to withdraw their proposed rule expanding the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction to cover all waters, not just “navigable waters.”

-Original Co-Sponsor H.R. 6, the Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act. Sponsored by Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO). This legislation provides that all pending LNG export applications as of March 6, 2014, will be granted without delay, and modifies the standard of review for future export applications, shifting the benchmark from Free Trade Agreement (FTA) countries to World Trade Organization (WTO) members.

-Original Co-Sponsor H.R. 3826, Electricity Security and Affordability Act,sponsored by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) along with Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV). In June, 2013, President Obama released his Climate Action Plan in which he directed the EPA to develop greenhouse gas standards for new and existing fossil fuel-fired power plants. This ensures that new fossil fuel fired power plants can still be built in today’s regulatory environment, while allowing Congress the authority to approve or deny the effective date of regulations on existing power plants.

-Letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy requesting that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency include a 120-day comment period on our proposed Clean Power Plan, also known as the Carbon Pollution Guidelines for Existing Power Plants.

-Letter to EPA Administrator McCarthy demanding that the EPA immediately rescind the “Emission Guidelines for Existing Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units. This letter states that this regulation for  carbon dioxide emissions is legally questionable and would do untold harm to the American people and our economy for decades to come.

-Cosponsor of the Northern Route Approval Act H.R. 3– This is legislation deals with Keystone XL pipeline and would not require the project to have a presidential permit and deems the final environmental impact statement issued by the Secretary of State. This legislations would move to approve the KXL pipeline without presidential approval.

-Congresswoman Ellmers is also starting a Smart Grid Caucus along with Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) which will emphasize the benefits and importance of developing and implementing Smart Grid Technology to improve and secure our nations grid infrastructure.

-Cosponsored H.CON.RES 24 led by Rep. Scalise that expresses the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy.

-H.J.RES.64 led by Rep. McKinleythat disapproves the rule submitted by the EPA relating to “Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New Stationary Sources: Electric Utility Generating Units.

-Signed onto letter led by Rep. Goodlatte to EPA administrator Gina McCarthyaddressing the needs to reform the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the blendwall it has created. The letter suggests the EPA should adjust the rigid RFS mandate down to align with the gasoline market conditions and realities to avoid a dangerous economic situation.

Touring Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant, March 24, 2011.

Fact Sheets:

 

·         The Northern Route Approval Act (H.R. 3)

·         The Energy Consumers Relief Act (H.R. 1582)

·         The Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (H.R. 2218)

·         The Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act (H.R. 1900)

·         The North American Energy Infrastructure Act (H.R. 3301)

·         The Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2014 (H.R. 2126)

·         The Electricity Security and Affordability Act (H.R. 3826)

·         The North American Energy Infrastructure Act (H.R. 3301)

·         The Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act (H.R. 6)