Energy Policy

Developing a comprehensive, long term strategy for weaning America off foreign oil is a matter of both national security and economic security. While gas prices have momentarily gone down, this has provided only temporary relief to a very serious long term problem.  As long as foreign oil regimes control the spigots to the world’s energy supplies, both our economy and our foreign policy are subject to external forces over which we have little control.

Fortunately there are common sense solutions that can help us avert a crisis and lessen our dependence on foreign energy sources. I support an “all of the above” solution that employs all means at our disposal to produce more energy at home while encouraging conservation.  This solution was laid out in the American Energy Act, a set of comprehensive energy proposals which I continue to support in Congress. 

To provide an immediate and viable source of domestic energy, the American Energy Act eliminates onerous restrictions on oil and gas production in the U.S., allowing us to dramatically increase our production of fossil fuels at home. The United States has a tremendous amount of fossil fuel resources that can be extracted in a way that is environmentally sound. Increasing production of these resources will boost the American economy by helping to control gasoline prices, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs and bolstering our national security by lessening our dependence on foreign oil.

In the long term, it is essential the federal government continues to provide incentives for research into and production of alternative energy sources like solar, wind and nuclear power as well as biofuels. American business is the greatest source of innovation and technological advancement in the world; by supporting private enterprise as it invests in alternative energy, the American Energy Act seeks to harness that power for the public good.

Oklahoma stands on the front line of the struggle for energy independence. We have long been an American powerhouse for traditional forms of energy like oil and natural gas. Now, as the U.S. seeks out alternative energy sources, Oklahoma has enormous potential as a source of wind power, solar power, and the production of biofuels. By making a serious commitment to the long term energy interests of this country, Oklahoma can pass on its rich history of energy production to future generations.