Sen. Murkowski: Energy Bill Secures US as 'Energy Superpower'

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, praised the upcoming bipartisan Energy Policy Modernization Act Saturday, saying the bill will help America produce more energy while helping Americans pay less for energy and establishing the United States as a "global energy superpower."

“It will also be the first major energy legislation considered on the Senate floor since 2007," the Alaska Republican said in Saturday's GOP address. "It’s been over eight years...back then, we were living in an era of energy scarcity, with many afraid that America was running out of resources."

Since that time, though, there has been an energy revolution, as newer technologies have allowed oil and natural gas production to grow on state and public lands, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“On top of that, the cost of many other technologies – from solar panels to batteries for electric vehicles – has declined dramatically," she said.

But with time passing, the nation's infrastructure has continued to age, and "other bureaucratic hurdles are sapping the competitiveness of our energy sector," she said, accusing President Barack Obama of ignoring Congress' work on energy.

“His gauntlet of burdensome regulations, many just beginning to take effect, threatens the affordability and reliability of our energy," she said, shutting down energy-rich states like Alaska.

"He rejected the Keystone XL pipeline on political grounds," Murkowski said. "Then his administration imposed a moratorium on federal coal leasing. Decisions like those cost us jobs. They weaken our growth. And they strengthen some of the world’s worst actors, at the expense of hard-working Americans."

Her committee's new bill though, which will be on the Senate floor starting this week, "is our latest contribution to a better energy policy for the United States. It is our latest effort to restore regular order. And it will be on the floor, on the Senate floor, starting this week."

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