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Alan on the Issues - Energy

Energy policy has two facets – how we power our vehicles and how we generate our electricity.

Perhaps the single biggest problem facing our nation today is our need to import oil to power our transportation fleet. Nearly thirteen of the twenty million barrels of oil we consume each day are imported. This dependence threatens our national security. Freeing us from this addiction must be a top national priority.

Ultimately, the solution lies in the development of renewable technologies. For the foreseeable future, oil will continue to be an important commodity to our economy and way of life. In a largely agricultural district such as ours, the budding biofuels industry can be a key component in the solution. We should also continue incentives for oil and gas exploration which can create jobs and help our Kansas economy even as we responsibly transition to other forms of energy.

It is estimated that the demand for electricity will continue to grow at approximately one percent per year. Our first task should be to rebuild and enhance our aging electric grid and to expand our transmission capacity. All of the options for meeting our increasing appetite for energy – coal, natural gas, wind, solar and nuclear, must be considered. As your congressman, I will work to make the United States an energy independent nation.