Energy & Alternative Energy
Recent innovations in technology and geologic discoveries have identified untapped supplies of natural gas, oil and shale oil here in North America, as well as on the eastern seaboard, Gulf and Pacific Coasts. Unfortunately, one of President Obama’s first Executive Orders following his swearing-in was to restore the ban on new exploration and off-shore drilling miles off-shore and at the edge of our continental shelf. Interestingly, the President and this Congress have chosen to invest billions in new oil exploration in Brazil???
The U.S. must end our dependence on foreign oil. I strongly support legislation to allow drilling and production of American-made energy in the arctic coastal plan and our outer continental shelves. New sources of traditional domestic energy production (including coal, natural gas, nuclear and shale oil) combined with newer alternative and sustainable clean energy technologies and increased energy conservation will ALL contribute to stabilizing our economy and reducing the costs of energy. Energy costs are imbedded in everything which we buy and consume. And again, the current Administration and Congress are heading in the wrong direction. Current budget projections call for $600-700 BILLION in new revenue to come from taxing carbon emissions and those individuals and industries which create them. These range from farmers to your local electric co-op or power company to General Motors. While a Cap and Trade bill can generate such revenue, the European Union is already moving away from this flawed model which they piloted and championed. The reality is that these energy costs will then be embedded in the costs of goods…from the pound of bacon or ground chuck, to your power bill…to your next car.
We should use tax credits and incentives for businesses and consumers who invest in using alternative energy, energy conservation and recycling programs. Georgia will add additional nuclear energy production capacity at Plant Vogtle. Currently nuclear power provides 15-20 percent of Georgia’s energy supply. Nuclear generation produces NO carbon emissions, and once licensed and constructed is by far the cheapest available kilowatt to produce. The south has been an innovator and leader in several areas of alternative energy production including: bio-mass and bio-diesel, cellulosic ethanol, clean coal/carbon sequestration, coal gasification, methane capture and conversion and the liquification and storage of natural gas. We should be crafting legislation and tax policy to create and support a broad array of energy sources, and reward those who invent, patent and establish technology which makes these alternative sources reliable and affordable.
While serving as a State Senator, I worked to strengthen Georgia’s Public Service Commission, deregulate the natural gas industry, hold the line on motor fuels taxes, expand access to broadband technology and allow Georgia’s public and private electrical utilities to invest in and improve their transmission infrastructure and reliability. Georgia energy costs remain 15-20% below the national average, and Georgia also has the lowest or second lowest gasoline fuel tax per gallon in the nation, despite several unsuccessful attempts to raise the motor fuels tax in Georgia during the past decade.
