GREGG HARPER

Dear Friend,

I was honored today to join an elite group of speakers for Movin’ Maroon, an event that aimed to advance Mississippi State’s research successes and promote our state as a leader in renewable energies and advanced vehicular technologies.

As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I have the privilege of influencing national energy and environmental policy. The Energy and Commerce Committee has produced legislation to save taxpayers $90 billion, protect nearly four million jobs from being destroyed by job-crushing regulations, and create another 150,000 jobs through the “American Energy Initiative” legislation to increase the production of American-made energy.

The full House has passed four bills in particular that would result in increased domestic oil production, putting Americans back to work and leading to a reduced dependence on foreign oil. These proposals would speed up the permitting process for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct more offshore oil and gas leases, direct the Department of Interior to proceed with exploration and production in areas estimated to contain the most oil and gas, and eliminate the administration’s bureaucratic delays that have stalled offshore energy production in the Outer Continental Shelf.

While these proposals are necessary steps in expanding our supply of domestic energy, reducing our dependence on foreign oil from nations like Libya and creating American jobs, our country will not become energy independent without adopting alternative energy technologies.

America should embrace an all-of-the-above energy strategy that harnesses new technologies – like solar and wind – and increases domestic energy production from oil, natural gas, clean coal technology and nuclear power.

Mississippi State does a phenomenal job with their research and development, including efforts to better understand the viability of biofuels. This institution is also a leader in the field of advanced vehicular technology, training the next generation of students who will shape the automobiles of the future.

I am proud that Mississippi is a national leader in alternative energies. As a member of Congress, I will continue to search for inventive ways to make better use of our natural resources.

To learn more about what is happening in my congressional office, please join my Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages.

God bless,

Gregg Harper

Member of Congress