From my involvement in state government, I have observed time and again how out of hand public policy can get when the statutes have been pieced together over the years. Each amendment is added to try to address a needed concern, but often, when put on the books with other well-intentioned measures, either defeats the intended purpose or leaves citizens and businesses confused, frustrated and wondering just how such laws were ever created.

To a large extent, I think this is what has happened with federal energy policy over the course of the last few decades because today we have policies that put entities that should be working together to create the best and most cost-effective energy at odds with one another. In many cases, current policy sets up fuel sources against each other, pits production against conservation and has created unhealthy competition among regions with low energy production.

To correct this, it is time for an overhaul that looks at the entire federal energy laws and policies – ones that address not only supply and demand but also infrastructure, conservation, investments in technological advances, energy assistance for those who need it and regulation.

Congress should seek a far-reaching, balanced market-based approach to this important issue before the rest of our country spends a summer like those in California did this year.

Rep. Russell P. Treadwell

District 124

Carmel