Capito Joins Colleagues to Introduce American Made Energy Freedom Act

Capito Joins Colleagues to Introduce American Made Energy Freedom Act

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) yesterday joined a bipartisan, geographically diverse group of House members in introducing the American Made Energy Freedom Act (H.R. 5890), legislation aimed at reducing our reliance on foreign oil by utilizing America's domestic energy supply. Rep. Capito, an original cosponsor of the legislation, joined Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), lead sponsor, in announcing the legislation at a press conference on Capitol Hill yesterday afternoon.

The legislation addresses the present demand for oil by opening a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil exploration. The royalties collected from this oil production would be placed into an investment fund - the largest fund of its kind ever created - to incubate the development of new alternative technologies, including the development of coal-to-liquid clean fuels, cellulosic biomass ethanol, solar and other alternatives to foreign oil.

"I have made the case through the five-point plan I introduced to lower gas prices that there isn't one silver bullet to reduce the price we pay at the pump," Capito said. "This legislation allows us to make use of our current domestic energy resources like ANWR, while at the same time invests in coal-to-liquid fuels, biomass ethanol and other fuels of the future."

The bill would extend the tax credit for fuel produced from coal through 2023. This provision begins to phase out when the price of oil is $45 a barrel and disappears when the price of oil is $65 a barrel. One of the major stumbling blocks in bringing investors into the coal-to-liquid fuels arena is the prospect that expensive new plants could be rendered worthless should the price of oil decrease. This coal-to-liquid credit provides investors with certainty while protecting taxpayers from paying for production incentives when the price of oil is high.

Capito added, "This legislation offers both short- and long-term solutions to our country's energy woes, and its coal-to-liquid incentives are exactly the type of thing that can help West Virginia's economy by creating even more demand for our coal."

A similar phased in credit is provided for the production of cellulosic ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol is a renewable fuel produced from plants which can be found in all 50 states: corn stover, rice straw, wheat and barley straw, switch grass, woody biomass, sugar cane waste, grass clippings, waste paper and agriculture waste.
Other provisions of the American Made Energy Freedom Act will extend tax credits for solar power, and fund grants previously authorized for biomass and other renewable fuels.

This legislation addresses three items included in Capito's five-point plan to reduce the price at the pump: authorizing drilling in ANWR, making use of West Virginia coal, and increasing the supply of ethanol.

The House has previously acted on other elements of Capito's plan by passing the Federal Energy Price Protection Act to add tough new federal penalties for price gouging, and by passing the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act to authorize increased oil and natural gas exploration in the deep ocean waters off our nation's coasts.

http://capito.house.gov/press_office/detail-page.aspx?id=196&whichone=pr