Position: Energy

Clean energy IS the future. In the meantime, we should adopt a “kitchen sink”, all-of-the-above strategy for energy independence. We should develop alternative energy, underutilized energy, such as wind and solar energy, cleaner coal energy, nuclear energy, and we should drill.

Energy independence is vital to our national security. It’s vital to our economic well being. It’s destabilizing to World affairs to have so many petrol-dollars go to unfriendly accounts. Energy advancement has a promise of better environmental stewardship. For all these reasons, energy independence should be a top government priority.

This should be an issue that we could all agree upon: America needs to strive to become energy independent and efficient. Alas. We do not agree. There are powerful agendas that wish to deprive America of energy. Many on the left believe that higher fuel costs amount to forced conservation. Even during the last campaign, President Obama said that the issue wasn’t that gas was $4/gallon, but how fast it got there.

No, Mr. President. $4/gallon IS the issue. If we don’t take steps now to ensure greater energy independence, $4 gas will return with economic recovery. We cannot wait until then to act. The time to act is now. Energy is the life-blood of a mobile and diverse economy. Until such time as alternative energy is abundant and cheap, we must use our available resources to ensure access to cheap and efficient energy resources.

Alternative energy IS the future, but oil is today. We need to drill in ANWR. We need to drill off the coastal shelf. We need to adapt and use the massive Bakkan shale-oil reserves in the Dakotas. Drill here. Drill now.

For two decades, Democrats have protested drilling for new oil because “it would take ten years to produce that oil!” How many decades can this stall tactic work? Yes. It will take some time (likely about 5 years) to yield results from increased oil production. This is why we must start now. In addition, the very act of beginning to recover greater amounts of oil would affect the market as it takes that future increased supply into account.

In addition to drilling, we must ramp up refinery capabilities and reduce the number of special ‘blends’ of fuels required by overlapping jurisdictions.

I support a “kitchen sink” all-of-the-above strategy for energy independence. We must seek out new sources of energy. We must exploit underused sources of energy. We must use more nuclear power. We must use cleaner coal.

We must drill here, drill now.

Update 6/26/09: The House passed the “Cap and Trade Energy and Economy Devastation Bill” on Friday 6/26/09. It doesn’t matter that Chet Edwards asked and received permission from Nancy Pelosi and his leadership to vote “no”. It matters that he supports the leadership that brought this up, in the first place.

We need new leadership in Washington to protect your access to quality, affordable energy. To get that new leadership, we need a new Congressman to prevent this type of bill, in the first place.