Overview
My energy priorities include:
- Lowering the cost of energy for Alaskans.
- Encouraging the development of local renewable energy resources.
- Promote energy independence for America.
- Develop Alaska’s natural gas.
Something is wrong. Alaska produces a lot of oil for America, and yet we pay some of the highest prices for energy in the country. Look at your utility bill. Check out the price of gas at the pump. Remember the dollars you spent to heat your house through the winter.
And the financial burden on Alaskans doesn’t stop there. Because of high energy costs, consumer goods are more expensive. Food prices are going up. More and more people have to make real sacrifices to pay their mortgage or make car payments or pay off student loans.
With vision, and political will and strategic thinking, we can ease the financial burden on Alaska’s families. As a state legislator, I led the call for a statewide energy plan and advocated for developing local energy resources. I fought hard to develop Alaska’s gas on Alaska’s terms, and to make sure we got full value for our oil resources. In the private sector, I founded “Alaskan Alternative Energy,” a company devoted to developing our renewable energy resources.
In Washington, D.C., I will continue to fight to bring Alaska gas to homes and businesses across the state and around the country. I’ll continue to explore ways to build the infrastructure to use renewable resources like wind, geothermal and tidal so we can reduce energy bills across the state.
We can do all of this in a way that puts people to work in Alaska and contributes to the rest of the country’s energy independence and energy security.
Traditional oil and gas reserves have been, and will continue to be, critical to the state’s economy. Together, as Alaskans, we must reach out to the rest of America to convince them that we can develop those reserves in a safe, responsible way.
My goal is to make us all more energy secure and energy independent – certain about where our fuel is coming from, and positive that it’s being produced at prices we can afford. Fixing the underlying problem means developing sustainable and lasting solutions, as well as providing short-term relief from the crushing cost of energy bills.
