Developing a rational energy policy to strengthen our security and to ease the economic burden on Americans.
Gas and other energy prices are soaring, hurting every family and slowing the economy. It doesn’t have to be this way. We have enormous supplies of gas, oil and coal. What is keeping us from using these resources is the environmental lobby, which dreams up scary scenarios of nuclear disasters, polluted lands and water, and the destruction of our wilderness areas. These are nonsense. Drilling technology has advanced to the point that many square miles of oil and gas can be reached through an area smaller than an airport. New technologies can exploit our vast oil shale reserves. Offshore drilling rigs can be located beyond sight of land. We have safe nuclear power plant designs that could be implemented within a few years. And if the energy market were less controlled by government, we would see a blossoming of new technologies that would open up new sources of energy in short order.
The worldwide hysteria over global warming poses a threat to our ability to use our energy resources. The Kyoto Treaty, which the U.S. is under great pressure to accept, would have no effect on climate change, but would damage our economy to the tune of trillions of dollars. It is essential that we stick by our principles and resist the continued pressure to agree to this unrealistic treaty.