Energy has been an especially important issue over this past year.  This summer, we saw record high gas prices that topped four dollars a gallon and we will all watch our heating bills climb this winter.  Each year we see the demand for energy rise and the supply of energy fall.  However, our country also faces another looming, less known energy crisis - electricity.

By 2030, the electricity demands of the United States alone will rise by 45 percent.  Our already struggling and out-of-date electrical network will be put to the ultimate test.  Supplying energy to meet our nation’s electricity demands over the next few decades presents another issue altogether. 

We have already experienced problems with our country’s electrical network in this decade alone.  In the summers of 2000 and 2001, rolling blackouts affected much of California and other western states.  In August 2003, a massive widespread power outage throughout the Northeastern and Midwestern United States brought much of that area, including New York City, to a halt.  Though power was restored the next day, it was the most widespread electrical blackout in U.S. history affecting an estimated 40 million people in eight states.  Given the rapidly increasing demand on our country’s electrical network, I am concerned these incidents will become more frequent in the future.

In this Congress, I introduced the American Made Energy Act of 2008 where I call for the development of alternative and renewable sources of electricity production such as forest and agriculture waste, nuclear power, clean coal, wind, solar and hydropower.  These new sources will help us meet our growing demand and help drive down the cost of electricity to consumers.  My bill also includes a dramatic expansion of drilling for more oil at home and off our shores so that we can utilize every resource to stabilize the nation’s energy prices.

While exploring alternative and renewable resources will help us meet our growing energy needs, it will also create thousands of “green collar” jobs here in Arkansas.  We should also devote more resources to repairing and rebuilding our nation’s electricity network to prepare for the future and to create thousands of new jobs in this struggling economy.

As we begin this new Congress, I will work with my colleagues on the House Energy & Commerce Committee to help find bipartisan, common sense solutions for our nation’s energy problems.  We must address these issues now so that we can work to create a stable, bright and affordable future for our children and our grandchildren.

Sincerely,

 
Mike Ross

Mike speaks on the importance of farming and agriculture to the strength of our overall economy at the 74th Annual Arkansas Farm Bureau Convention on Dec. 4 in Hot Springs. He also received the "Friends of the Farm Bureau" award and later presented a Congressional Record statement honoring outgoing Arkansas Farm Bureau President Stanley Reed, pictured right seated.