Energy (July 2011)

What is the most urgent challenge facing the electric power sector today? Ask four experts and you may hear five different answers. 

The United States reached an extraordinary milestone in 2009: America became the world’s largest producer of natural gas.

Jobs, deficit, economy — these are words you’re certain to hear echoing through the Capitol this month. Yet as debt debates and negotiations continue, too few are talking about one clear step that could help create jobs immediately: allowing our energy industry to get back to work.

Would you trade your flat-screen HDTV for a black-and-white set with aluminum foil rabbit ears? How about swapping your smartphone for a rotary-dial brick? 

Republican disregard for our environment has left me and my constituents outraged. Let me count the ways.

Our economy is suffering its worst downturn since the Great Depression. So what do we do about it? Well, the White House began with almost a trillion dollars in taxpayer “stimulus” money in an attempt to force job creation. That government-will-lead approach failed miserably.

These days, sitting through hearings on the House Natural Resources Committee means watching environmental standards get rolled back one by one.