Tim Walberg: “I thank the chair for the good work done on this piece of legislation, but I offer an amendment that would prohibit the…”

“I thank the chair for the good work done on this piece of legislation, but I offer an amendment that would prohibit the use of funds to carry out a national media campaign to promote alternative green technologies. In 2007, Congress authorized the Department of Energy to create a national media campaign to convince Americans to buy green technologies at the tune of $5 million a year. Now, my amendment would simply prohibit funds from going to this misguided, unnecessary, government- run campaign. As constituents in my Michigan district are struggling to deal with $4 a gallon gas prices and energy costs brought about by this administration's harmful energy limitation policies, the last thing we need, Mr. Chairman, is Washington bureaucrats telling them how to live their lives. They are smart enough to know, as are the overwhelming majority of American citizens in all of our districts, Mr. Chairman, to know what energy sources work for them, work best for their families, for their businesses, and especially when our country has emerged and is emerging still further--if we would allow it and encourage it as an energy superpower--and now leads the world in natural gas and oil production. Instead of funding unnecessary ad campaigns, let's get to work on energy policy which takes advantage of our energy abundance and leads to lower prices, more jobs and greater global security.…”