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WASHINGTON, DC – Today Congressman Henry E. Brown, Jr. (S.C.) joined his Republican colleagues on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to unveil a plan to deliver real energy solutions and lower gas prices for American Families.
Following today’s press conference Congressman Brown made the following remarks:
“As the price of gas hits a record high day after day, American families deserve action not empty rhetoric. I strongly believe that if we do not invest in American energy resources, the price we currently see at the gas pump will have nowhere to go but up."
“We must take action to increase domestic production, while also investing in safe and efficient alternative energies. I believe that our plan offers meaningful, long-term solutions that will reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy, create American jobs and promote economic growth. Through workable solutions, rather than partisan bickering, we can help lower gas and energy prices for American families.”
The average price of gas in America is $3.81, up nearly $1.50 since January 2007 when the Democrats took control of Congress. Currently, the United States imports over 60% of its oil, up from 42% in 1990. Despite more than 2 years of promising a commonsense plan to combat rising energy prices, all the Democrats have delivered are tax increases.
Congressman Brown supports a balanced portfolio of energy production and conservation to address our nation’s energy challenges. He voted for the final version of the 2007 Energy Bill (H.R. 6), which focused on conservation and renewable energy and he was also one of the original sponsors of the bill’s new auto fuel efficiency standards. Congressman Brown joined with Rep. Bob Inglis to support the H-Prize Act, which encourages hydrogen research, and has advocated for increased funding for developing fuels from biomass and ocean energy research. Further, Brown supports increasing our nation's refinery base and expanding domestic energy development. He also fought to ensure that related royalty payments will benefit coastal communities.
For more information on Brown’s energy policies please visit http://brown.house.gov/Issues/energy.html
Below is more information on the House Republican energy plan:
How Republican Solutions Will Fix It:
The Change America Deserves: Meeting Our Energy Needs with American Made Energy.
• The comprehensive House Republican plan will fund research and development of technologies and innovations which advance the use of renewable and domestically available energy sources, increase energy efficiency, and ease the environmental impacts of energy use.
1) Increasing the Production of American-Made Energy in an Environmentally-Safe Way
a. Support actions that reduce America’s dependence on energy from unstable foreign governments and dictatorships by increasing environmentally-safe production of oil and natural gas in areas such as the arctic coastal plain and in deep ocean energy resources; and
b. Promote unconventional fuels such as coal-to-liquids technology and recovering our vast oil shale reserves by:
• Increasing access for environmentally responsible development of conventional and unconventional domestic oil and natural gas production;
• Providing coal-to-liquids financing and tax incentives;
• Advancing the commercialization of the nation’s two trillion barrel shale oil resource, 80 percent of which occurs on government-owned land in the West. This is enough to supply all of America’s needs for over two centuries.
2) Promoting New, Clean, and Reliable Sources of Energy
a. Encourage more production of environmentally-safe energy to increase the use of our vast domestic supply, reduce emissions, and keep coal-dependent communities strong; and
b. Expand emissions-free nuclear power, including long term nuclear waste storage solutions and recycling spent fuel by:
• Providing production and investment tax credits for all new base-load electricity projects such as advanced nuclear power and clean coal; and
• Allowing immediate expensing for new renewable or zero emission power.
3) Cutting Red Tape and Increase the Supply of American-Made Fuel and Energy
a. Expedite permitting for enhanced oil recovery projects, including CO2 delivery and injection, as well as permitting for new refining capacity;
b. Improve environmental review and permitting to encourage the deployment of technologies which increase the efficiency of existing power plants; and
c. End ill-advised policies that have led to the proliferation of unique gasoline and diesel fuel formulations known as “boutique fuels,” which have fragmented our motor fuels distribution system, choked off supply, and exacerbated the already-painful Pelosi Premium.
4) Encouraging Greater Energy Efficiency by Offering Conservation Tax Incentives
a. Support technologies to help increase energy efficiency in all sectors of the American economy, including removing bureaucratic regulatory barriers that prevent businesses from upgrading their facilities with newer, more efficient energy technologies, by:
• Making home energy efficiency upgrades tax deductible;
• Providing incentives for home builders and homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient;
• Offering investment expensing for industrial and commercial building efficiency upgrades;
• Extending the residential and business solar and fuel cell investment tax credits, with enhancements to the residential solar credit ($2,000 per ½ kw installed);
• Extending the fiber-optic distributed sunlight investment tax credit; and
• Increasing the energy efficiency of government-owned buildings.
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