Grand Junction Sentinel - Tipton Bills Target Fuels, Forest Health

News Article

By Bill Hugenberg

Measures aimed at improving forest health and broadening the nation's energy portfolio are awaiting action in the U.S. Senate after House passage.

The measures by U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., were folded into other measures approved by the House on Thursday.

Tipton's Planning for American Energy Act, H.R. 1394, was included into H.R. 2, the American Energy Solutions for Lower Costs and More American Jobs Act.

Similarly, Tipton's Healthy Forest Management and Wildfire Prevention Act, H.R. 818, was included in the Jobs for America Act, H.R. 4.

The Planning for American Energy Act would require that all energy resources including wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, oil, natural gas, coal, oil shale and minerals needed for energy development be included in a plan to meet the nation's energy needs for the next 30 years.

No environmental regulations would be repealed, Tipton noted.

The Healthy Forest Management Act would direct the U.S. Forest Service to prioritize hazardous-fuels reduction projects proposed by governors and affected counties and tribes.

"The House has continuously worked to identify and pass solutions to put Americans back to work, to lower energy costs for businesses and families, and to get our federally managed public lands under control," Tipton said in a statement in which he urged the Senate to take up the measures.

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