A Real Energy Solution for Minnesota: Achieving Independence from Foreign Oil

Statement

The high cost of foreign oil dependence poses a significant, ongoing threat to the United States. Minnesotans in the Third Congressional District want a Member of Congress who acknowledges the risks of foreign oil dependency and who will support comprehensive changes to the failed energy policies of the past, stop the billions in tax giveaways to oil companies provided by President Bush and the 2005 Republican Congress, and work to achieve the promises of a green economy.

Foreign oil dependency is a clear threat to our economy. We continue to see $700 billion annual trade deficits and the value of the dollar plummeting, in part because oil comprises one-third of our imports.

Foreign oil dependency is a threat to the environment. We see the effects of global warming all around us. There is strong scientific evidence from the Nobel-prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that global warming is a result of human activity - namely, our growing use of fossil fuels like oil.

Foreign oil dependency is a security threat. Our reliance on foreign oil makes the United States dependent on unpredictable nations in unstable regions such as the Middle East. Reducing our use of foreign oil is a national security imperative.

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We can only confront these threats if we have Members of Congress who have the courage to achieve real energy solutions, to confront the oil industry, and to embrace the American-made innovations that could truly solve this country's energy needs.

An Independent Voice on Energy

During my campaign for Congress, I have refused to take campaign contributions from oil companies or the other corporate special interest PACs that have so much influence in Washington. In 2005, President Bush and the Republican Congress passed an Energy Bill that was all for Big Oil, with $14 billion in tax breaks that were completely unneeded. Big Oil knows I will vote to repeal these billions in tax giveaways.

Growth through a Green Economy

The United States has a unique opportunity to lead the world as it moves towards a green economy, thereby creating an economic boom in renewable energy technology. Expanding the use of homegrown energy offers incredible economic opportunity for states like Minnesota, and for our nation as a whole.

Federal legislation that requires a specific percentage of energy come from renewable sources would provide an immediate economic stimulus to states like Minnesota, with the capacity to be major producers of alternative energy. A cap and trade system for carbon dioxide emissions would create new market incentives for energy innovation. We can use the revenue generated by this cap and trade system to give back to consumers and keep energy prices affordable for middle class families. We also need expanded federal incentives for businesses and individual consumers for the use of sustainable energy like wind, solar, and biofuels.

Just as President Kennedy challenged us to put a man on the moon, we need an Apollo-style project to achieve energy independence. We should take the billions in government handouts to oil companies and put that money into research and development of new renewable energy sources. This would help us transition to a green economy in a fiscally responsible manner.

The green economy already generates close to $500 billion a year and employs several million people nationwide. By the end of this decade, it could be a trillion dollar economy that dwarfs even the Internet boom of the 1990s. In the 3rd Congressional District of Minnesota, there are several examples of green economy initiatives that are creating new jobs and helping wean our dependence on foreign oil-the Sustainable Home built by Live Green Live Smart in Minnetonka, green energy initiatives pursued by Great River Energy in Maple Grove, and LEED-certified business buildings such as the Quality Bicycle Design distribution center in Bloomington.

Reducing Prices by Reducing Demand for Oil

Unaffordable gas prices have forced demand down, but they also put additional strains on family budgets that are already stretched by a difficult recession. Expanded federal incentives for fuel-efficient hybrids and alternative fuel vehicles would dramatically reduce our demand for foreign oil. The federal government should immediately take steps to reduce its own use of oil and offer incentives to state governments that greatly reduce or eliminate their own use of oil. Lastly, we need to close the "Enron Loophole" which fosters volatile prices and investigate energy market manipulations.

Environmentally Responsible Drilling

Oil companies should explore the lease areas already granted to them before exposing additional areas of valuable coastal property to the perils of oil spills. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused 124 offshore oil spills, resulting in 743,700 gallons of oil being dumped into the ocean. If there truly are ways to expand domestic supply in an environmentally responsible manner, we should grant new offshore oil leases on a case-by-case basis. We should not simply give a blank check to Big Oil to drill whenever and wherever they want. I would be proud to continue Congressman Jim Ramstad's tradition of protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling.

A Role for Nuclear Power

Like Vice President Al Gore, I believe nuclear power should continue to play a modest role as part of the larger solution of addressing the crisis of global climate change. I would support federal policies and investments to determine environmentally safe ways of disposing of nuclear waste. The costs of such efforts should be incorporated into the price of energy sold by nuclear power plants. I'd also like the industry to offer permanent and sustainable solutions with regard to: nuclear waste; the potential for catastrophic accidents; and the proliferation of materials that could be used in nuclear weapons.

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