The American way of life--our economy, standard of living, national defense, etc.--has an enormous energy requirement to maintain itself. A loss of--or even a reduction in--any energy resources reverberates through our country with potentially catastrophic circumstances and cannot be viewed as a tolerable risk. With that said, we also cannot substitute "tried-and-true" energy sources for unproven, short-sighted, politically-favorable sources without fully vetting the opportunity first. (And as clarification, granting government subsidies that are nothing more than political earmarks is NOT considered proper vetting.)

We are, at our core, a petroleum-based nation and will need to stay that way until clean, economical alternatives prove themselves as a more viable alternative than fossil fuels in the marketplace. Secondarily, we have years of data to show that coal and nuclear power are safe, reliable, and extremely efficient sources for powering community energy needs. Virtually "free" sources, like solar, wind, and tidal power, are infinite in supply but have proven thus far less robust than others...but there is clearly a future in exploring these options.

I, therefore, support exploring and drilling for our primary energy source--petroleum--on our own land (ANWR, the Northern Plains States, etc.) to create thousands of jobs and ease our reliance on foreign oil. I also support brining online more nuclear power and coal burning plants while simultaneously continuing the research into innovations like "trash-to-energy" (TTE) facilities and increasing the power yield from solar, wind, and tidal power. While I do not oppose ethanol as an alternative fuel, I do oppose government influence in its ability to survive in the market.