Issue Position: Energy and Environment

Issue Position

Energy independence and innovation are essential to America's national and economic security. The best way to address America's future energy needs is through a comprehensive approach that considers an "all-of-the-above" energy solution.

President Obama's Administration has repeatedly blocked access to domestic natural resources through unnecessary regulations; and, instead has used taxpayer dollars to subsidize a political agenda resulting in the loss of billions of taxpayer dollars as we saw with Solyndra and countless other companies that received taxpayer dollars to promote "favored" technologies, only to declare bankruptcy. Additionally, after years of delay, the Obama Administration denied a permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would have increased domestic energy supply, decreased our reliance on unstable foreign governments, and created thousands of American jobs.

An effective energy strategy will involve increasing our domestic supply of energy and private investment and research into new types of cleaner and more efficient fuels which will lower costs for Americans and protect our environment.

However, to effectively utilize all of our domestic resources, the federal government should not pick winners and losers in the marketplace. Risky investments by the federal government in politically prioritized industries leaves taxpayers on the hook for millions of dollars without alleviating high energy costs.

To combat rising energy prices, the federal government should support fair competition to drive prices down and efficiently utilize our resources while continuing to protect our environment for current and future generations.

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