Energy

Click here to read Rep. Randy Demmer's response to critics who are distorting his Legislative record opposing "Cap and Trade".

First of all, energy independence isn’t just an energy issue, it’s also a security issue. We’re sending billions of dollars overseas – and importing most of the energy that is the lifeblood of our economy. We need to develop resources and technology that move us away from our dependence on foreign oil so we can put our hard-earned dollars back into our own economy.

America needs to focus on developing those energy resources that we have here at home. In the First District, that means wind power – and the transmission lines to get it to where it is needed. That means continual development and research into biofuels, which are increasingly more energy and water efficient. They also produce not only energy, but brewers grains for livestock feed that we export all over the world, and carbon dioxide that goes not into the atmosphere, but is trapped and sold to bottling plants and other food and beverage uses. We need to look into expanding domestic oil production, because the truth is, we’re still going to need oil well into the foreseeable future. We need to address our base load energy needs by utilizing new technologies for coal plants, and building new nuclear plants. Why not develop resources here at home that can reduce our burden on both foreign governments and fossil fuels?

The cap and trade bill that Tim Walz supported is NOT energy policy. It’s government expansion, more bureaucracy, and worst of all, it’s a tax increase on every family and every business in Southern Minnesota and in our nation. Agriculture is still the backbone of the first district, and it’s very energy intensive. Why should we arbitrarily set a standard that places an even heavier competitive burden on our family farms? Some of the goals may be laudable; certainly we want our factories and industries to be as environmentally responsible as possible. However, the bill penalizes companies that produce here at home, making them play by a set of rules that our international competitors do not respect or enfroce. China, for example, builds a new coal fired power plant every week without regard for environment protections similar to those we have put in place here, keeping energy costs artificially low for their producers. We need to find ways to make our industries and our manufacturers MORE competitive in the world economy, not place additional burdens on them. This bill also does nothing to help families or businesses conserve energy. The best way to save money on energy is not to use as much in the first place.

Energy independence isn't just an energy issue, it's also a national security issue.

Energy