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 that resulted in the United States becoming the world’s largest producer of oil and gas in 2015 – something that less than a decade ago was all but unthinkable. Additionally, our nation posses the world’s largest coal reserves - which is a greater source of energy than all the known oil reserves in the Middle East – that can meet domestic demand for almost the next 300 years. 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 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.