Dear Friends,

Following the president’s move to withdraw from the 2015 Paris Accord, I wanted to give you an opportunity to express your thoughts on this decision through a quick survey. I believe it is critical that America continue to lead the world in matters of safe and effective energy production while protecting our environment. In fact, America has led the world in technological advances which have cut carbon emissions and air pollution, and the United States has already made substantial progress on addressing climate and pollution concerns, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 10 percent over the past decade. I believe, though, that the Paris Accord, while circumventing Congress and public debate on the issue of how to best address carbon emissions, would seriously impair the United States’ ability to support critical jobs in our energy sector and maintain our competitive advantage in energy production, as well as limit our energy independence and hurt our economy.

Regardless of the withdrawal from the Paris Accord, market forces and advances in our technology and innovation will also continue to reduce carbon emissions and recapture America’s competitive advantage in energy production. The U.S. continues to lead in renewable energy advances, doubling the amount of solar photovoltaic capacity in 2016.  This was due, in part, to the support of a multi-year extension of the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) that was included in the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law on December 18, 2015. We also continue to make progress in wind and biofuel energy sources, and advances in technology have brought the cost of these renewable energies down significantly over the past 10 years.

As we move forward on these important issues, it is my hope that the president will work with Congress, leaders of industry, and environmental experts to develop comprehensive environmental and energy policy that can accomplish our goals of protecting our environment, promoting American industry, and ensuring energy independence for the United States while exporting our technological advances and energy resources to our allies across the world.

If you have any additional commentary, always feel free to respond to me here.

Click here to take the survey.

Sincerely,

Rep. French Hill