Congress shouldn't pick energy favorites

Congress shouldn't pick energy favorites

With the cost of our domestic oil exploration and production increasing by nearly $10 billion every year and gas prices escalating by the day, now is not the time to saddle the American people with additional mandates to use alternative energy sources. While we all agree that we need to find long-range alternatives and the promise of alternatives is there, the bill that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives contains $18 billion in new taxes on current energy production and does nothing to lower overall energy costs.

Our past efforts to regulate the energy markets have not been successful, and legislators must be careful not to repeat those same mistakes again. During the 1980s, taxes on domestic energy production actually worked against our national energy security by increasing foreign imports and depressing our domestic output. I am grateful that Bob Inglis voted against raising taxes and increasing our energy costs.

Congress should promote free-market solutions that promote competition rather than picking favorites with alternative energy solutions, and I urge Sens. DeMint and Graham to vote against the Senate version of this bill.

Suzette Jordan, Greenville