Energy

Floor Speech

Thank you, Madam President.

Last night the majority party had an all-night session talking about energy, but there is no specific proposal coming forward. We are here ready to vote to do our job representing the American people and actually craft a plan, a comprehensive energy plan for this country that works.

Since we didn't hear one last night, I thought I would come today and propose one. I would like to propose a States-first all-of-the-above energy plan. This isn't new. This is a plan I proposed along with others, my good colleague from South Dakota, my good colleague from Wyoming who was just here, and others. This is a comprehensive approach, a bipartisan approach, and actually specific legislation, a number of bills that will create a comprehensive plan to not only produce more energy for our country but to create more jobs, to grow our economy, to help expand our tax base, so we can reduce the deficit and the debt without raising taxes and, maybe most importantly of all, actually providing national security so we do not have to import oil from the Middle East--a specific action plan with legislation drafted and introduced that, instead of talking about it here on the Senate floor, let's do it. Let's start voting. Let's pass it. Let's put solutions in place for the American people.

Now this is not one big monolithic one-size-fits-all Federal plan, Federal approach. Instead, it is a series of bills sponsored, as I say, by Members on both sides of the aisle that would truly create a States-first, all-of-the-above energy approach. It includes measures such as my good colleague from South Dakota just said. Let's approve the Keystone Pipeline. The administration has been working on it for 5 years. Maybe they are going to work on it for another 5 years. I don't know. Well, let's approve it here in Congress. Let's act.

Another bill, the Dominion Energy and Jobs Act, is a bill I introduced that has already been passed by the House. It is a series of 13 different pieces of legislation that would help us produce more energy in this country both onshore and off.

The Empower States Act is another piece of legislation I put forward that would address hydraulic fracturing which is unleashing new areas of energy production in our country, or the coal ash recycling bill, that not only would help us recycle coal ash, but provide better standards to make sure that we are storing ash that is recycled in environmentally sound ways, addressing a problem that EPA is working on, and has to come up with a solution by the end of the year. We work with the EPA to come up with a commonsense solution that also encourages recycling coal ash to use on highways and buildings and other construction, and for other construction purposes.

There is the Domestic Fuels Act, which is another piece of legislation that not only helps us market traditional fuels at the pump, such as traditional oil and gas products, but also renewable fuels, such as biofuels, biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen, other types of energy that we are working to develop--renewable fuels. Let's make it easier to give consumers choice at the pump and more competition that will help reduce their costs.

This is the same kind of comprehensive plan that we developed in North Dakota when I was Governor. I was a Governor there for 10 years. We developed a plan that we called EmPower North Dakota, and of course the whole idea was to unleash the energy resources of our State--all of our resources. I am not just talking about oil and gas--traditional sources of energy--but all traditional and renewable energy that have truly made our State an energy powerhouse for the country. We did it at the State level, and we can do it at the national level.

So how does it work? Quite simply, it empowers States to build on their relative strengths. It does so by giving them the primary role, or the primary responsibility, in terms of regulating energy development and growth in their State. That may be oil, gas, nuclear, biofuels, hydro, wind, solar, biomass or whatever else may be an area of strength or expertise for their respective State.

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If you think about it, it builds on the very foundation and very concept of how our country works. The United States is the laboratory of democracy. The States are the laboratories of democracy. Let's make them the laboratories of energy development in this country. Why not? Let's make them the laboratories of energy development in this country, whether it is Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota or Wyoming. You name it. Different places have different strengths.

When it comes to producing energy, let's empower them to produce the type of energy that works best in their respective State. It is bipartisan, it is inclusive, and it includes not only the Federal Government, but it includes the Federal Government in a way where they are working with the States and building on the very strength of our country.

I know my time is limited. I will be back later today to talk about it some more.

I want to leave with this point: It is not just about energy. It is about better environmental stewardship because we unleash the very investment that drives and deploys the new technology that produces more energy and does so with a better environmental stewardship.

It is about a growing economy that creates revenues without raising taxes to help address the deficit and debt. It creates good-paying jobs that we need in this country.

It is also about national security. Think about what is going on in Europe right now. Is the European Union going to join with us and impose sanctions on Russia? Are they? Do they have the will or are they concerned that 30 percent of all of the natural gas that goes to Europe comes from Russia and half of it goes through the Ukraine?

Are they so concerned about their energy future that they are not willing to stand with us to do the things we need to do to make sure that an aggressor like Russia doesn't invade another sovereign country?

So energy is very much about national security, and we can be energy secure in this country in very short order with the right approach.

I yield the floor.

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