Why it matters: Efforts to expand renewable and traditional energy production were slow to move forward during the Obama administration. I am committed to working with President Trump to responsibly increase exploration of land under federal control, update energy-related infrastructure and increase safe traditional energy production at home. 

Where I stand: We are moving quickly to correct the previous administration’s misguided policies. In the first few days of President Trump’s administration, he issued a directive to allow work on the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines to resume after the Obama administration fought every one of our attempts to get these commonsense projects completed. He has also indicated that he will work with Congress to roll back the Obama administration’s moratorium on new coal mining leases and the so-called “Clean Power Plan,” which is essentially a national tax on energy that drives up costs on hardworking families and eliminates jobs in the energy sector.

As a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, I am committed to working with my colleagues to embrace an all-the-above approach to energy security that will encourage the responsible use of our nation’s unmatched energy resources.

While fossil fuels will continue to play an important role in the short term, we must work toward developing and expanding renewable sources of energy in order to address our current and future needs. We need to use everything our nation has been blessed with, including wind, solar, biomass and hydropower to diversify our energy portfolio. Emissions-free nuclear must also play a big role. We continue to make advancements in these areas and I support smart, responsible approaches that broaden our capability to harness natural resources to create new forms of sustainable energy.