Issue Position: Energy Independence

Issue Position

To fundamentally overhaul our nation's energy policy, Congressman Loebsack supports expedited drilling and pipeline development in National Petroleum Reserve (an area already approved for drilling); expanding the development of traditional energy sources in an environmentally responsible manner; increasing the fuel efficiency of cars driven on our streets; and most importantly increasing investment in renewable energy sources, including Iowa's homegrown fuels- like wind, solar, and biofuels, so we can also create new jobs in our state and bring increased economic development to our rural areas. To begin to create the change necessary to develop a new energy policy, Congressman Loebsack supports:

* Energy and Independence and Security Act, H.R. 6, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, reduces global warming, and lowers energy costs by such steps as raising the CAFÉ standards for the first time in 32 years, providing new energy efficiency standards, making the largest investment in our country's renewable energy industry including the production of Iowa's home-grown biofules, requiring 15% of electricity to come from renewable sources, and repealing billions in subsidies for big oil while providing tax incentives for renewable energy.

* Strategic Petroleum Reserve Fill Suspension and Consumer Protection Act, H.R. 6022, temporarily suspends oil purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) until the end of the year in an effort to bolster supply and reduce gas prices.

* Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act, H.R. 6049, extends and expands tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency, creates thousands of green jobs in Iowa, and also extends other critical tax incentives, including the R&D tax credit.

* Energy Markets Emergency Act, H.R. 6377, directs the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to use its full authority and most potent emergency tools to curtail excessive speculation in the energy market, which drives up gas prices.

* Gas Price Relief for Consumers Act, H.R. 6074, combats record gas prices by authorizing lawsuits against oil cartel members for oil price fixing, and creating an Antitrust Task Force to crack down on oil companies engaged in anticompetitive behavior or market manipulation.

* Price Gouging Prevention Act, H.R. 1252, sets criminal penalties for price gouging of gasoline, and permits states to bring lawsuits against wholesalers or retailers who engage in such practices.

* Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act, H.R. 6052, reduces fares for public transit to give consumers a cost-effective alternative to $4-per-gallon gasoline and expands service through grants to transit agencies.

* Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act, H.R. 5351, ends unnecessary subsidies to big oil companies and instead provides tax incentives to invest in clean, renewable energy and energy efficiency, including Iowa's own renewable energy industry.

* No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, H.R. 2264, authorizes the Justice Department to take legal action against OPEC state-controlled entities that participate in conspiracies to limit the supply, or fix the price, of oil.

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