Hoeven: Nation Needs Comprehensive Energy Policy, Not Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Bill

Press Release

Hoeven: Nation Needs Comprehensive Energy Policy, Not Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Bill

Gov. John Hoeven today testified against cap and trade legislation before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, emphasizing rather the need for a comprehensive energy policy on the federal level to produce more domestic energy in environmentally sound, cost-effective ways. The Governor was invited last week to present testimony by the Committee's ranking member, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma.

"As a nation, we must continue to develop all of our energy resources, and we must also do so with good environmental stewardship, but the Waxman-Markey legislation is not the way to do it," Hoeven testified, citing that:

* The technology to reduce emissions from coal plants is still in the developmental stage. While there are projects underway to capture carbon, commercially deployable technology on a nation-wide scale is still years away. Instead of penalizing companies, we need to foster the research needed to find more efficient ways to create, transport and store energy.
* The reality is, this legislation actually penalizes, rather than rewards, the technological advances that are being made by companies like Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Dakota Gasification Company in North Dakota. These companies have taken preemptive action to reduce their emissions, but these efforts will not be considered in the allowance allocation formula. This penalty also applies to other utility companies in North Dakota that have taken the initiative to invest in renewable resources.
* The legislation will potentially increase greenhouse gases when industries overseas increase production because companies here cannot compete due to the increased costs.
* This bill will force companies that want to capture and sequester CO2 to "pay twice" - once, when they pay the carbon tax, and then again, when they pay for the technology to capture and sequester the CO2.

"Instead of Waxman-Markey, or similar legislation, Congress needs to implement a comprehensive energy policy that will incentivize industry to develop all of our energy resources - both traditional sources and renewable sources - in an environmentally sound manner," said Hoeven. He also highlighted EmpowerND, North Dakota's comprehensive energy policy and the projects that have capitalized on the incentives provided by it as an example, including Blue Flint Ethanol in Underwood, Tharaldson Ethanol in Casselton, horizontal drilling techniques deployed in the Bakken Formation, and carbon capture and sequestration projects conducted by Basin Electric and its Antelope Valley Station near Beulah.

Hoeven also pointed to the legal and regulatory framework for carbon capture and sequestration passed during North Dakota's last legislative session as a way to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gases. "This legal and regulatory framework provides predictability and incentives to companies looking to start or expand carbon capture and sequestration operations in the state. We need this same legal and regulatory certainty at the federal level to encourage the use of carbon capture and sequestration to reduce carbon emissions throughout the nation.

"These and other cases show there is a better alternative than Waxman-Markey," Hoeven's testimony said. "The right approach is creating a comprehensive energy policy to empower energy development without taxing consumers. Through a comprehensive energy plan, our country can spur development of all of our energy resources with good stewardship while still promoting energy efficiency and conservation. The result will be more jobs, a stronger, more vibrant economy, good environmental stewardship, and greater energy independence and security for our nation."

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