Smith Asks for Energy Meeting with Speaker Pelosi

Statement

Smith Asks for Energy Meeting with Speaker Pelosi

Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) today sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requesting the opportunity to meet with her to discuss his recent trip to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado and Alaska's Prudhoe Bay and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The letter was co-signed by House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and nine other Members of Congress who also attended the trip.

"High energy prices are hurting families, businesses and communities. To solve our energy crisis, we must increase the supply of American-made energy. This includes more renewable and alternative energy technologies, along with increased development of our nation's vast supply of natural resources," Smith said in the letter.

"It is vitally important we work together for American consumers - because they are the ones who are hurt by sky-high gas prices," Smith added separately.

The delegation toured NREL, to learn of emerging technologies in energy production. They also were given an aerial tour of Alpine Field and received an overview of ANWR, which was designated by President Carter and Congress nearly 30 years ago for energy exploration and production. To date, none of this area has been tapped for energy production.

"It's important for every member - including Speaker Pelosi - to learn about the ‘facts on the ground' about American energy, which is what we learned on our trip. Two weeks ago, I joined a group of ten House Members, including Rep. Adrian Smith, on the American Energy Tour. We visited the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colo., where we learned about the development of the renewable energy technologies - like solar, wind, hydrogen, and bio-mass - that will power the United State in the next generation.

"Then we traveled to Alaska, where we learned how wildlife can co-exist with environmentally-responsible production of oil and gas. We also learned that our nation faces a ‘pipeline deadline' - without additional supply, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline will soon be forced to shut down, turning a multi-billion dollar piece of our infrastructure into scrap metal and cutting the United State off from all of the energy resources produced on Alaska's North Slope.

"None of the facts we learned on the American Energy Tour are partisan or controversial, and Speaker Pelosi should hear them. I applaud Rep. Smith for taking the lead in working to arrange a meeting with the Speaker so she can hear, firsthand, the facts about America's energy future. I look forward to that meeting," Leader Boehner said.

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