Political Quotes

“My amendment seeks to strike all funding of the Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program. This program, under the Department of Energy, allows the government to invest millions--indeed, over $1 billion--of taxpayer money in high- risk research and development schemes for green energy projects. The government should not be in the business of subsidizing the research and development initiatives of individual companies. Let's be clear. Competition and innovation have been key aspects of the private sector's success in our country from day one, and the government should not take the role of a private investor. Every business has a bottom line, which is itself a direct incentive for developing methods for becoming more energy efficient and innovative. By subsidizing this small sector of the energy economy, we are essentially allowing the Department of Energy to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on unconventional energy initiatives and projects that place taxpayer dollars at risk and that are not likely to produce a return on investment. We as a Congress have continuously stated the need for an all-of-the- above energy strategy, but continued investment into the EERE program focuses on the small portion of a largely unproductive portion of the energy sector at the expense of more traditional energy sources, such as fossil fuels and nuclear, which have a proven, reliable track record.…”