America needs an ‘all-of-the-above’ approach to energy

While the House of Representatives has understandably been quiet during the government shutdown, not everyone has been idle.

While most members of Congress were home in their districts, Representative Troy Balderson, an Ohio Republican, quietly introduced a short, potentially consequential piece of energy legislation called “The Affordable, Reliable, Clean Energy Security Act.”

“We the People” will celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday next Independence Day. And truth be told, we are crossing this milestone birthday showing our age. We are politically bipolar. We are in debt. Our infrastructure is crumbling and our schools are a mess. We are in need of several new leases on life.

For starters, if America is to be made great again – by anyone’s definition – it will require a commonsense reordering of our approach to energy and electricity generation. Troy Balderson’s approach offers the kind of clear-eyed vision we need.

Aimed as a corrective to the “Green New Deal” priorities that took hold during the Biden administration, the ARC 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 fall 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.

Mine is a nonpartisan appeal for making this bill law. Legislators of America, let’s meet in the middle of the aisle. Without the re-ordering of energy interests in this bill – affordability first, reliability second, and clean third – our rate cards are going to go through the roof. The economy, the hopes of the American people, and their pursuit of happiness are predicated on considerably lower rates.

The American ratepayer is the American family. And “We the People” – the payers – are suffering unnecessarily, and it is not by the hand of foreign actors beyond our democratic reach and control. It is being done by those who are supposed to represent us.

My fellow Americans, lend me your ears for an ADHD minute. In the recent past, we have been governed by a shackling set of priorities. Clean energy has been in the driver’s seat, followed by affordability, and then reliability. This “CAR” approach has not delivered on its promises. And it is structurally incapable of getting us over the fast-approaching AI demand hill.

The status quo CAR approach and mindset can’t even service the status quo. Look no further than New Jersey, which is having a voter revolt partly because of rising electricity costs. This is not a only a blue state problem. Georgia sent an affordability message on November 4 that should be a wake-up call for all red states, which like Texas have chased green subsidies. The rate increases are coming due for all.

If we continue to follow our current energy priorities, brown-outs, economic stagnation and out-migration to energy-rich states will follow. “We the People” will all benefit from the passage of ARC Energy Security. Democrats, Republicans and independent voters will all benefit.

What is our short-term future if we do nothing new? Take your present energy bill and multiply it by 2.3, which is the variance between American and British ratepayers in the business sector.

New Jersey, what’s the midterm future of sticking with CAR? Give your present rate card woes about a 100 percent increase. This is what German ratepayers are gouged for – around 40 cents per kilowatt hour – to underwrite their country’s march towards deindustrialization.

Texas and Florida – states with lower energy costs and the beneficiaries of out-migration from blue states that have gone green crazy – deduct money from your energy bill and think about what that money can do in the hands of citizens spending it in your state, and investing for retirement.

AI’s appetite for reliable energy will require an energy-capacity building boom. The ARC approach will get us there; CAR will not. John Fetterman, Congressman Balderson needs a co-sponsor in the Senate. Senate Republicans will likely support this approach, but energy affordability and reliability should not be partisan concerns.

In the second Trump administration, the President has issued various executive orders, and cabinet secretaries have put out their directives while incoming Democratic governor Mikie Sherrill has vowed to freeze utility costs. There’s a better way to govern – a better way to promote the general welfare and to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Affordable, reliable and clean energy should be an issue that unites us at a time when unity is in short supply.

David DesRosiers is the publisher of RealClear. This article is derived from a salon with Representative Balderson and a diverse group of reporters and energy experts.