Energy and Climate Change

For far too long, our nation has been dependent on fossil fuels, primarily purchased from foreign sources, to meet its energy needs.  This oil-driven energy policy has had a negative impact on our environment, economy, and national security.   We simply must reduce our dependence on oil – whether from foreign or domestic sources – and enact a comprehensive federal energy policy that allows our country to promote energy independence and move towards a clean energy economy. 

We can do this by providing incentives for the production of energy that is clean, domestic, and affordable.  We have started doing this by funding significant investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy.  These include encouraging technologies ranging from carbon capture and sequestration to the production of electric and other “green” vehicles.  Altogether, this basic scientific research is likely to spur economic growth and create entirely new industries, providing jobs to millions of Americans.

In 2009, I supported and the House passed H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act.   H.R. 2454 would have invested in clean energy resources, increased efficiency, and improved air quality.  Specifically, the bill required electric utilities to generate 20 percent of their electricity through renewable energy sources; invest in research to develop new clean energy technologies; mandate new energy-saving standards for buildings, appliances, and industry; and safeguard consumers against energy price increases. 

H.R. 2454 also would have established a market-based incentive system to reduce greenhouse gas emission, enabling the U.S. to achieve the 80 percent reduction in these emissions that we must reach by mid-century if we are to avoid a dangerous climate tipping point.  I will continue to support additional scientific research in this area, but I believe that the scientific process has already resulted in an understanding of climate change that is increasingly robust and has withstood a number of challenges.   

I believe this comprehensive energy legislation will open the door to a clean energy economy, allowing our nation to make the changes we need to provide energy that is clean, domestically-produced and affordable.  Comprehensive energy legislation should be a goal of the current Congress. And I see indications every day that the Research Triangle area of North Carolina is poised to be a major winner in this new, clean-energy economy. 

I also believe that international agreements on mandatory, enforceable caps on greenhouse gas emissions are essential.  In the meantime, the U.S. needs to enact laws – and support state efforts – to meet its obligations in this regard.

Gas Prices

Oil prices are currently at the highest level since September 2008, and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that they will continue to rise for the rest of the year. I know that the price of gas at the pump is already posing significant challenges for many Triangle families -- and higher fuel costs also reverberate across the economy, contributing to the increased costs of goods and services, which could affect our nation’s economic recovery.

There are a variety of global economic factors at play, and unfortunately, there is no silver bullet for solving our energy problems in the short-term. I believe the recent, highly volatile behavior of energy markets raises concerns about market speculation. Under current law, speculative trading in energy commodities is regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). CFTC’s oversight of energy markets was strengthened under the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill approved by Congress last year, and the CFTC is currently in the process of developing these regulations. However, the Republican majority leadership has proposed significant cuts in funding for CFTC for the rest of this year and for the upcoming year, which would hinder CFTFC’s ability to implement and enforce new regulations. I have also joined Democratic efforts to explicitly prohibit oil companies from engaging in market manipulation, but these efforts have also been opposed by Republicans.

However, there are things that Congress can do to help stabilize prices. One option is to release oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which is currently at its full capacity of 727 million barrels of oil. The SPR was created in 1975 in the wake of the 1973 OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) embargo in order to help the U.S. buffer against future oil price shocks that have “major adverse impact on national safety or the national economy.” Historically, the SPR has been tapped to address oil supply disruptions – whether the cause is a hurricane here in the U.S. or issues affecting foreign producers – not to mitigate price manipulation or other attempts to interfere with the market. Although our oil supply has not been disrupted, rising costs are causing hardship for families and threatening the economic recovery. Releasing oil from the SPR would lower prices for consumers, and it’s an option that we should keep on the table if current conditions persist or worsen.

Some have also used the current price increases to call for the development of additional domestic sources of fossil fuel. However, it is clear we cannot drill ourselves out of this problem. The EIA notes that additional offshore drilling would only lower gas prices by 3 cents in 2030, and would not affect gas prices at all in 2020. Still, I believe that responsible drilling can, and should, continue to move forward, and the Administration is actively pursuing that goal. Since 2008, U.S. oil and natural gas production has increased while imports of foreign oil have decreased. Last year, U.S. oil production rose to its highest level in almost a decade. I also support efforts to compel oil and gas companies to produce on the drilling leases they already own – government statistics show that while oil companies currently hold about 80 million acres under lease, they are only producing on about 19.5 million of those acres.

Although the U.S. will continue to rely on fossil fuels in the short-term, over the long run, we will simply never have a sufficient domestic supply of oil to maintain our transportation-dependent economy with current technologies, and our energy policy should more clearly reflect that. I believe we need to take steps to reduce our reliance on foreign oil by increasing vehicle efficiency and promoting electric cars, using cleaner and more diversified fuels, and investing in public transportation. I will continue to work for common-sense solutions that will help Triangle families reduce the cost of gas at the pump. At the same time we must hold Big Oil accountable and advance measures that will put our country on a path towards energy independence.

Related Information

+ Energy provisions in ARRA (pdf)

+ Congressional Research Service Report: Climate Change: Science Highlights (pdf)

+ Congressional Research Service Report: U.S. Energy: Overview and Key Statistics (pdf)