Issue Position: Energy Policy

Issue Position

The refusal of this current Administration to use our own energy resources is outright insanity. We must seek and develop our own sources of oil, gas, and coal to provide affordable and reliable energy in order for our economy to grow. Government funding of "alternative energy" has fallen short. Readily available alternative energy sources won't be economical or available for decades to come. We have the reserves of oil, natural gas, and coal that will meet the energy needs well into the future.

We can mine coal and under current regulations, require the reclamation of surface mined lands back to their original contours. Oil and natural gas producers are now using modern drilling and extraction technologies that no longer require huge platforms to recover these resources. Countless numbers of natural gas wells in the West Virginia and Southwest Virginia coal fields are capped and deemed "unavailable" for use.

Many of our oil rich Federal lands are off limits to production. The Bakken oil reserves in the Dakota's and Montana have over 8 times the reserves of Saudi Arabia and still remains untapped. Permits for coal mines have been withdrawn by the EPA and thousands of coal miners in West Virginia have already lost their jobs and coal prices have increased because of this.

Vast reserves of oil and natural gas lie off the coasts of Florida, Virginia, Alaska, and California yet remain off limits to production. New technologies are also bringing new life to older oil fields in Texas and Oklahoma once thought to be "tapped out" now are being drilled and oil recovered in appreciable quantities.

When the Department of Energy was created, it's sole purpose was to "eliminate dependence on foreign oil". Today, we are more dependent than ever and our own resources lay dormant and off limits for production. No new nuclear plants have been built for decades and coal fired power plants are under direct fire for construction permits.

Wind and solar are proving more costly and less reliable than anticipated and less than 2% of all energy is generated by these methods. It has only been because of Federal subsidies that these are even considered as viable alternatives. Biofuels, such as ethanol, are proving to be more hazardous to the environment and far more costly than anticipated and again, heavily relies on Government subsidies to survive.

Economic growth of our nation depends on reliable, inexpensive, and available energy sources. To continue to press forth with an energy policy that forces the elimination of the types of energy we use today is committing economic suicide for any recovery we might have. The Cap and Trade bill that relies on "perpetrated lies" regarding "climate change" in order to force higher costs of energy on the American people is not just bad policy, but pure immorality. Countless millions of jobs will be lost with this legislation and the "green jobs" being promised simply do not exist.

Mike supports developing our own domestic energy reserves immediately and end the dependence of foreign oil. It is no longer acceptable to keep our own sources "off limits" as we send billions of America dollars overseas for a product we have available here. This will create jobs and spur economic growth as well as make our energy supplies affordable and not dependent on the whims of any dictator or cartel.

Mike supports the further development of promising alternative energy technologies that show an ability to be economically feasible to implement, is developed from the private sector, and is dependable for wide-spread use.

Mike supports the building of new nuclear energy plants and streamlining the permitting process, as this technology has proven to be safe, reliable, and dependable. Mike further supports the building of fuel rod reclamation and recycling facilities to eliminate as much nuclear waste as possible to reduce nuclear waste storage requirements.

Mike supports the further development of Clean Coal technology that will bring dependable, reliable, and clean energy sources now and in the future. Our current coal reserves are estimated to be capable of over 200 years of energy supplies and our nation will be well capable of developing those alternative energy sources within that time frame.

Mike supports streamlining the permitting process for new coal, oil and gas production and to lift the moratoriums on production of offshore areas. Unless we start to develop and produce from our own reserves, our dependence on foreign oil will never end. Alternative energy sources cannot be made feasible simply because government makes law that says it will. Americas' greatest leaps in technology has come from private, free enterprise methods and will deliver our alternative energy sources when left alone by government.

Source