MUCH MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE: America at 250 Needs Energy Overhaul. ARC Is the Place To Start.

Aimed as a corrective to the “Green New Deal” priorities that took hold during the Biden administration, the ARC [“The Affordable, Reliable, Clean Energy Security Act”] would direct federal agencies to reorder their policies with attainable objectives aimed at increasing attainable and cost-effective domestic energy production – and providing benchmarks allowing for effective congressional oversight.

The bill would formally require government regulators to prioritize these three words when evaluating energy projects: Is it affordable? Is it reliable? Is it clean? Most politicians give lip-service to these concepts, but under current law they are left open to interpretation by the executive branch and they shift from one administration to the next, Balderson points out. His bill would essentially codify a true “all of the above” energy approach – and would benefit all Americans regardless of their ideological leanings.

If enacted by Congress and signed by the president, his legislation would require the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency to submit a report to Congress within 180 days documenting what they are doing to incorporate all-of-the-above into our national energy strategy. Windmills and solar farms wouldn’t be suddenly sidelined. (On the other end of the energy scale, neither would coal.) But this bill would virtually assure that all viable, affordable, and reliable energy sources – including nuclear power and natural gas – remain in the nation’s energy mix. In other words, it replaces old habits and ideological fads with practicality as a way of supporting American families and businesses.

I don’t question liberals’ commitment to a cleaner environment. But Democrats campaigned this autumn on the need for “affordability” – and found a receptive electorate. This legislation would turn that rhetoric into action. And just as important to poor and middle-class families, it fuels our nation’s efforts to rebuild and onshore the energy sector that fuels economic growth.

Greater reliance on natural gas and nuclear power will deliver green and clean dividends. ARC is a win, win, win. The status quo is a lose, lose, lose.

Diversity of energy production is always welcome. As a wise woman once said, drill baby, drill!