Fallin column on "Cap and Trade" and domestic energy production

Here's a column Mary wrote for The Hill on the need for a national energy policy that focuses on increasing production of energy at home!

We need a comprehensive national energy policy that simultaneously reduces carbon emissions, diversifies our energy sources and reduces our dependence on foreign energy. Unfortunately the Cap and Trade bill passed this spring would do exactly the opposite. Controlling which energy sources are available to businesses, consumers and producers will drive up costs and drive employers out of business, to the tune of 20,000 lost jobs in Oklahoma alone.

That’s why we need an all-of-the-above domestic energy strategy - which includes oil and gas, wind, solar, nuclear and biofuels – rather than empowering the federal government to pick winners and losers. American-made energy means American-made jobs, which is especially critical during a recession.

When we increase domestic production of all energy sources, everybody wins. We create American jobs and secure our own energy independence. Last week I introduced the “Federal Exploration and Production Reform Act,” because I believe it is a step towards this goal. My legislation would significantly shorten the time it takes the Bureau of Land Management to process permit applications for exploration and production by eliminating much of the bureaucratic red tape that has discouraged domestic energy production.

In my home state of Oklahoma, drilling companies have waited up to two years for a drilling permit, which significantly stifles our ability to increase energy production at home. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this legislation, which is a sensible starting place for incentivizing domestic production.

- Mary Fallin