Posted on April 27, 2022 by Rich Powell
This op-ed was originally published by The Washington Times on April 27, 2022. Click here to read the entire piece.
Economic inflation, post-Covid global supply chain chaos, Russia‘s war in Ukraine, and the onslaught of China's effort to dominate markets have combined to bring on a global energy crisis. The question is how do we address these challenges and restore American energy independence while working to solve the climate challenge?
Too often, energy and climate policy is oversimplified to false choices: renewables versus fossils, economy versus environment, 100% emissions reductions globally versus doing nothing at all.
The reality is public policy must focus on making the global clean energy transition cheaper and faster. Rather than trying to make existing energy sources more expensive or off limits, we must pursue a market-driven agenda that makes clean energy more affordable.
On that front, Republicans are leading.
America is blessed with abundance of natural resources, from fossil fuels to critical rare earth minerals. More importantly, we’re blessed with an American spirit and passion to innovate. The clean energy development boom from 2005 to 2020 led to a decrease in U.S. emissions by more than 20% and made the U.S. a global leader in energy production. With continued smart policy — such as the Energy Act of 2020 crafted by a bipartisan Congress and signed into law by President Trump — we can lead on mitigating the global climate challenge while regaining our place as the global energy leader.
Click here to read the full article