A comprehensive energy plan should make us more energy efficient, less reliant on foreign sources of oil, create jobs and ease the burden on family budgets

But when it comes to energy, Democrats believe in backwards evolution. They want to raise the rates on all forms of energy and force the people to cut back. Federally, the Obama Administration is pushing regulations through the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a national energy tax and regulate emissions, and, by doing so, circumventing the legislative process.

The result does little to remove our dependence on foreign oil, but would cripple an already struggling economy.  It will raise prices and, as intended, taxes on virtually all goods and services, and that leads to destroyed jobs.

Gasoline, natural gas and electricity are intentionally targeted for increases.  And in Minnesota, which is traditionally proud of its cold winters, we will find that winter will be very much harsher and colder when the heating season begins.

We support Congressman John Kline and Michelle Bachman in their resolution to put a stop to the EPA’s backdoor approach to raise your taxes. In Minnesota we can advance cost-effective ways to curb rising energy costs through clean coal technologies, gasification, wind, solar, hydrogen, ethanol, biodiesel, Cellulosic Ethanol.

It means removing the moratorium on new nuclear plants in Minnesota. Nuclear energy is the second largest source of safe, affordable electric power in the country today, and the outright refusal by many lawmakers to consider nuclear energy is ridiculous, especially when considers that nuclear power plants do not pollute the air with nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, dust or carbon dioxide. France gets 70% of its energy from Nuclear Power, why not us? The private sector will invest in this technology, they don't readily do so in Wind and Solar unless there it is subsidized.  There's something wrong with this picture!

And, it means encouraging Congress to allow exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and environmentally safe leasing of oil and natural gas fields in the outer continental shelf and on federally owned lands with oil shale in the West.