I received the following letter from a couple of concerned citizens of Nevada regarding Renewable Energy and my position.  I will post the letter (as both letters were the same) and then comment:

Dear Mr. Smack:

As gas prices skyrocket and the peak of the summer driving season is upon  us, many elected officials and candidates are demanding access to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, off our coasts, and other sensitive areas.

Additionally, there has been an increase in drilling amendments added to  bills in an attempt to open up coastal and refuge drilling to allegedly solve our nation’s energy crisis.  Continuing our  dependence on dirty
fossil fuels will not solve our energy problems.

Oil, gas, and nuclear companies have not been accountable to American taxpayers and are raking in record profits, while consumers and the environment suffer. In fact, oil and gas companies are only using 18% of the leases to which they already have access to drill.  Proposing new areas to drill when companies are not drilling everywhere they have permission to underscores the immense greed of the energy industry.

I urge you to invest now in renewable energy and commit to fully funding the Green Jobs Act and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant.

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My position on Federal funding toward renewable energy sources is still the same as when I started this campaign.  I’m all for exploration of any and all types of renewable energy sources, as well as being all for drilling for oil in places that we are not drilling.  To be honest, if we had listened to President Bush when he first came into office about opening up drilling in ANWR and offshore drilling off the shores of California and Florida (where he received as much pushback from his brother, Governor Jeb Bush, as anyone else) we might not be paying $4.00 plus for gas right now.  I’m not in substantial agreement with many of the policies of the Bush Administration, but this is one area where he proved prophetic.  America is addicted to oil, and perhaps the high prices will bring Hybrid and Electric vehicles into the mainstream where they belong in order to reduce our dependence on foreign oil sources, but we must also work to become independent in oil for ourselves as well.

Renewable energy such as wind, geo-thermal, solar, and other sources are necessary and there should be enough profit in the ventures to go forward without the help of the Government.  If there is not enough profit for utility companies to move forward with projects in renewable energy, it is not up to the Federal Government to make it profitable for them.  If Government should be spending anywhere, it should be to help energy companies upgrade our antiquated energy delivery infrastructure to make it much more efficient.  Much of this infrastructure is 30 plus years old, and how many of us are still driving 30 year old cars or using 30 year old computers?  Technology has improved in energy delivery to the point that if we simply updated the system, we would see a 30-40% increase in efficiency without building another power plant.

Another subject is Ethanol.  I am four square against any Federal subsidies for the production of Ethanol, let’s let the market decide if Ethanol is going to be the fuel of the future or not.  One thing that the production of Ethanol is directly hurting in Nevada is the cattle industry.  Ethanol has driven the cost of winter feed up 100 percent in just the past few years, causing many ranchers in our state to give up on trying to continue to raise cattle.  Nearly 200,000 head of cattle have disappeared in Nevada in the past 25 years, and this may just be the final nail in the industry coffin for this state, with the continued BLM regulations (another subject, but Federal control of almost 90 percent of Nevada lands is something else that needs to be addressed) and water needs of Southern Nevada already straining this once-vibrant industry.  I also believe that Ethanol is one of the chief reasons for the inflation in food prices, as so many corporate farms have switched to producing Ethanol, there is less supply of soy, wheat, corn, and other crops.  Less supply with steady demand = higher prices.  There is a place for Ethanol, but let’s let the market decide!

So, to directly answer the question stated at the end of the letter I received, I would vote against the $125 Million per year Green Jobs Act and the $2 Billion per year Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant.  My question back to those who ask me to support this measure is:  What do we cut?  We must first eliminate the federal deficit before I believe we should be considering any additional spending.   It should be up to the individual and corporations, not Federal Government, to figure out how to be more efficient and to conserve.  That is what Freedom and Liberty are all about!!!