This is a guest opinion column
This summer, the Sunrise Movement, a climate activism group best known for championing the Green New Deal, released a video confronting me, Katie Britt, in the halls of the United States Senate.
The exchange began with the activist asking for a photo, but as we posed, she asked, “Congresswoman, I was wondering how much money it would take to buy you back from ‘Big Oil.’” I could not help but laugh at her blatant dishonesty.
This is the same old game leftwing climate activists have played for years: Activists misrepresenting environmental and energy issues to promote their false narrative that tackling our largest environmental problems require giving away what makes America powerful and strong. The “solutions” this activist and her cohort promote would not only be ineffective in tackling the environmental challenges we face but would disadvantage American energy on the world stage, which in the long-run would have devastating economic and national security implications.
Heavy-handed government control for the sake of environmental protection is ineffective. As conservatives, we need to correct the narrative and fix policy at the federal level by taking the lead with an America-first approach to energy and environmental policy.
Conservatives should feel empowered when faced with adversarial questions from the left – because our solutions work. American energy is clean energy, and we need more of it to meet the world’s demand. There’s a reason the United States has led the world in improving air and water quality while simultaneously producing energy to power a 21st-century economy.
As a nation, we can and we should have an all-of-the-above approach to energy because we are not just capable of producing it—we are better at producing it.
American-produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) is significantly cleaner than LNG produced by our competitors, namely Russia. This year, the clean nuclear energy renaissance was revitalized with the completion of two new nuclear reactors – the first new American nuclear reactors in more than three decades. Alabama is part of that success as the fifth-largest producer in the country for nuclear energy. Hydropower, natural gas, coal, wind, and solar are also reliable, affordable sources of energy in our state that should be included in an all-of-the-above approach.
American energy leadership is nothing new, and neither is the conservation spirit of conservatism, proven by Alabama’s farmers and cattlemen each and every day as they steward their land and conserve it for future generations. Unfortunately, farmers and cattlemen are often wrongfully shunned, just like oil and gas producers are, by mainstream environmental conversations and especially by extremists. This completely disregards the fact that our farmers, cattlemen, and foresters are the best stewards of our land—they are the ones making sure our state always remains Alabama the Beautiful.
Our rural, agricultural communities are also the lifeblood of our long-term food and energy security. Upcoming energy projects in red states, many of which are predominantly rural, account for 76% of recent energy investments. While these voices on the ground and in industry are often unfairly forgotten, they are some of our most powerful allies in effectively solving our planet’s environmental challenges. As natives of rural areas in Alabama and Minnesota, we know firsthand that these communities will be key to our future economic and environmental success.
While it may seem easy to make American energy the bogeyman, we must instead embrace our leadership role in securing energy dominance – in Alabama and across our nation. To conserve is conservative, and to lead the world is American.
Senator Katie Britt has served the people of Alabama in the U.S. Senate since 2023 and served on the Alabama Wildlife Federation’s board of directors. Danielle B. Franz is the CEO of the American Conservation Coalition, a nonprofit organization building the conservative environmental movement with more than 50,000 members nationwide. Follow them on X @SenKatieBritt and @DanielleBFranz.
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Publish date : 2024-10-24 09:17:00
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