Issue Position: Energy

Issue Position

I strongly believe our nation must pursue an "all-of-the-above" energy policy where we explore all technologies and opportunities for increasing our nation's energy independence. I strongly support the development of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and other sources of renewable energy that can help improve our economy and our environment. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge that our nation will need its traditional sources of baseload energy including coal, hydro, nuclear, and natural gas well into the future. I am a strong proponent of nuclear energy and the role the Idaho National Laboratory is playing in the development of new nuclear technologies.

As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee which funds the Department of Energy, I will continue to promote our nation's involvement in nuclear power and seek the expansion of nuclear energy as a percentage of our nation's energy mix.

In the 1970's, our nation created the Energy Department in response to that decade's oil crisis. At the time, we were 35 percent reliant on foreign oil and we thought that was far too much. Today, after over three decades and hundreds of billions of dollars spent, we are 65 percent reliant on foreign oil. Something is broken at the Department of Energy in relation to its core mission of energy independence. We can and must do better over the next 30 years.

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