Talking with Tancredo

Rep. Tancredo held a meet and greet after the GOP convention on Saturday, January 27th, attended by about 30 enthusiastic supporters. Questions were taken afterwards, from anyone who wanted to speak to him themselves. The energy question was asked immediately by someone in the small group, so I just listened in. He gave a long response, calling energy the “other most important domestic policy issue.” He raised a few different issues:

• He is concerned that most of our oil and gas comes from unfriendly countries, which means our economy is dependent on other countries’ perceptions of the United States, so we make policies that are not good for the US just to satisfy the need for oil. He stressed the need to explore and develop our own resources offshore and within the Continental US. He said this is not enough, but it is a significant amount, of oil.
  
• He believes we can also continue to develop alternatives, particularly nuclear which is a safe and clean energy source if we can figure out the uncertainty of where to store the rods. He pointed out, however, that it does take 80 months from application to construction of a nuclear power plant, so it is not an immediate resource. He also mentioned ethanol and coal gasification, the latter in conjunction with nuclear energy to provide an efficient means of extracting coal shale.
  
• He stressed that we will get far more out of a free enterprise system that rewards new technology rather than taxing it. In terms of “big oil” he said “most people are mad at them, so am I, I’m not a wealthy person,” but the best way to handle them is not to put taxes on development. Perhaps we should put taxes on imported oil, he suggested.