Issue Position: Energy Independence

Issue Position

Our nation is headed towards an energy crisis. The U.S. population continues to grow at a quick pace, while our energy infrastructure grows at a much slower rate. Wyoming is part of the solution to this problem and I hope as your Senator I can bring this message to Washington. The population of the world is growing faster than our own, and and the demand is increasing for energy accross the world while our own ability to secure our long term energy needs is failing. There is concern over environmental impacts of energy production and I believe the solution is a mixed one. We need to set guidelines that will allow the extraction of energy resources while requiring a low impact approach. We need to feel confident that when we allow extraction that special steps are taken to reduce water, air, and noise pollution, while not disrupting animal migration patterns. We also need to make sure the land is returned to its original state after any mining operation is completed. This philosophy will obviously take more effort from energy companies than has been previously done, but best practices should become the minimum standard in our pursuit of energy independence. This approach will create new jobs, as people are trained to lower the environmental impacts related to energy extraction. I believe we should remove restrictions on drilling so we can drill in more locations. Our energy companies need access so they can tap into the vast amount of oil we have here within our boarders. A responsible yet expanded approach to securing our energy future is more critical now than it has ever been. I also believe a Cap and Tax system would be disastrous to our energy independence and overwhelmingly costly to consumers. We are already struggling with $4.00 a gallon gas; we cannot make our own situation worse.

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