Editor note: The advocacy arm of the Institute for Energy Research (IER), the American Energy Alliance (AEA), has launched a new analysis and advocacy program, The American Energy Scorecard. A description of the new initiative from AEA follows.]
Energy is the lifeblood of modern society. It touches every aspect of American life— fueling our transportation systems, powering our offices, and heating and lighting our homes. Affordable, abundant, and reliable energy empowers us to grow and prosper. In fact, energy is the single most important mechanism for alleviating poverty and promoting prosperity.
It is in the spirit of promoting energy prosperity that the American Energy Alliance has launched the American Energy Scorecard, the first and only free-market congressional energy accountability scorecard.
The American Energy Scorecard educates lawmakers about the most important energy votes of the year and empowers the American people to hold their elected officials accountable for the decisions they make in Washington.
In developing this scorecard and deciding which energy votes to score, AEA is guided by a core set of principles, including:
-Promoting affordable, abundant, and reliable energy
-Expanding economic opportunity and prosperity, particularly for working families and those on fixed incomes
-Giving Americans, not Washington bureaucrats, the power to make their own energy choices
-Encouraging private sector innovation and entrepreneurship
-Advancing market-oriented energy and environment policies
-Reducing the role of government in energy markets
-Eliminating the subsidies, mandates, and special interest giveaways that lead to higher energy costs
Throughout the year we will update the Scorecard with “Key Vote” alerts that explain how certain bills either promote or hinder energy prosperity. We will also develop a searchable database that allows the public, the media, and policymakers to track how Members of Congress are voting on important energy issues.
With energy at the top of Congress’ agenda, the importance of free-market energy policies has never been greater. America is the richest energy nation in the world and today we are the world’s largest energy producer. Will your elected representatives in Washington advance policies that promote continued energy prosperity or will they stand in the way? Stay informed with the American Energy Scorecard.
Vote YES on Blunt Carbon Tax Amendment #350 to S. Con. Res. 11
Vote YES on H.R. 1030, the Secret Science Reform Act
Vote YES on H.R. 1029, the Science Advisory Board Reform Act
Co-Sponsor H.R. 703, the RFS Elimination Act
Vote YES on S. 1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act
Vote NO on amendment #77 to S. 1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act
Vote YES on amendment #166 to S. 1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act
Vote NO on amendment #133 to S. 1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act
Vote NO on amendment #120 to S. 1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act
Vote YES on amendment #73 to S. 1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act
Vote YES on H.R. 351, LNG Permitting LNG Permitting Certainty and Transparency Act
Vote YES on amendment #78 to S. 1, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act
Vote YES on H.R. 161, the Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act
Vote YES on H.R. 3, the Keystone XL Pipeline Act
Stop wasting our money on crony capitalistic boondoggles. Vote YES on all of these proposals.
What a fabulous initiative! I find this amendment curious:
“End wind welfare: Amendment #819 by Sen. Flake or #862 by Sen. Lee establishes a spending-neutral reserve fund to repeal the wind production tax credit…”
Because the wind PTC is expired, and there is no further description of the proposed amendments, readers are left to wonder what these amendments would really mean. Do the Senators mean an SNRF to prevent the PTC from being reinstated? Or do they mean that wind projects already built will stop receiving the credit over the remainder of their first ten years of operation? If they intend the latter, I am sure they are already aware that “Hell hath no fury like a green energy investor (Mid-American Energy, VextERA and General Electric, on the domestic front, for starters) jilted by Congress.” And can you imagine President Obama signing a budget repealing the PTC for projects already built and receiving it?