U.S. representative: Our bipartisan commitment to energy dominance

Our nation faces many challenges, and foremost among them is the urgent need to lower the cost of living, rebuild our manufacturing sectors and enhance the quality of life for every American.

However, to successfully achieve our goal of creating a healthy economy that rewards all Americans, we must overcome the impending challenge of potential energy shortages that could stifle economic and technological development and undermine the long-term prosperity of America.

The reality is clear: America needs more energy.

After years of flat demand for power, we are now witnessing explosive demand for energy that’s been driven by the growth and use of data centers for emerging technologies such as cryptocurrencies and AI, new industries reshoring jobs domestically, and the increasing electrification of industry and daily life.

This explosion for more power has been combined with international uncertainties, particularly from China under the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party and the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war and Middle Eastern conflicts that continue despite hopes for peace.

With the demand for power growing every year, we could face a potentially serious energy shortage within this decade that would undermine economic growth and reindustrialization, burden Americans with higher energy prices and jeopardize American energy security.

These outcomes are unacceptable — we cannot allow our economy to stagnate and families to be caught in a vicious inflationary cycle of endless price increases as foreign adversaries threaten global energy markets and security.

This does not, however, have to be our future; we can create a different outcome. The United States can seize the moment now, reassert American energy dominance, and secure our economic prosperity and security for the immediate future and for the generations to come.

For too long, the legislative and executive branches have not been in sync on growing the energy sector and strategically supporting the future of American-made energy. Thankfully, after years of talking past each other, Republicans and Democrats in Congress are coming together to unleash American energy and ensure the United States remains the global leader in new energy production.

President Donald Trump has already made breathtaking strides to break up the status quo of Washington, and I’m excited that the second Trump administration is willing to work with Congress, engage across party lines and incentivize private-sector companies with a proven track record of delivering results to expand American dominance in energy. I am already working in conjunction with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to unleash this new agenda of energy abundance.

To succeed, we also need Congress, which is why I’ve created the bipartisan American Energy Dominance Caucus. The caucus will be important in ensuring Congress does its part to support the revitalization of American energy production and ensure public-private partnerships are responsibly commercializing every potential source of energy. I’ve long said that energy policy should not be partisan. That’s why I purposely emphasized the importance of bringing together members of Congress from across the aisle and across our nation to work together to access our vast energy resources.

The United States is blessed immeasurably with these energy resources. In this great land, we have access to oceans of oil and natural gas beneath our feet, rich coal reserves that can be safely mined and cleanly burned, rolling rivers whose endless strength can be converted into power, thermal energy from the earth’s crust, vast expanses of land under the sun and wind that can be harnessed, and the intellectual know-how and grit to expand civil nuclear power. America must have an “all of the above” energy policy that exploits every strategic energy advantage we possess.

As Congress and the administration partner with the private sector to incentivize energy production, especially the production of traditional fossil fuels that are necessary for the foreseeable future, we must ensure we also invest in new forms of energy production that are essential to power us through the rest of the 21st century, namely civil nuclear power. This is the time to invest in new nuclear, both fission energy, which is our present, and fusion energy, which is our future. By expanding safe, affordable, clean nuclear power from coast to coast, we will meet America’s future energy needs for our children and grandchildren.

Today, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to renew America’s preeminence in energy production. If we work together and set aside petty partisanship, we can unleash American-made energy and utilize all our natural resources to create a truly diverse, thriving energy sector that produces affordable, reliable, clean power for Americans and our allies worldwide. We cannot let this moment pass us by — the time is now to make American energy dominant again.

Republican U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann represents Tennessee’s 3rd District and is chairman of the newly formed American Energy Dominance Caucus. Rep. Fleischmann spoke about the American Energy Dominance Caucus at the annual EarthX environmental conference, which is taking place in Dallas April 21-25.