(Editor’s Note: The following column was submitted by Rep. Shane Mekeland.)

The cost of just about everything is on the rise these days with inflation acting as a tax, nickel by nickel leaving us with less money from paycheck to paycheck.

This only underscores the importance of maintaining a diverse power grid to deliver affordable, reliable energy to Minnesotans.

Reports forecast U.S. winter natural gas bills will be 30% higher than last winter. On top of that, major utility providers in Minnesota are seeking to raise our rates by around 20 percent.

Meanwhile, President Biden canceled the Keystone Pipeline and has moved to end oil and gas leases on federal land. He also reached an agreement with Germany that allows a controversial Russian natural-gas pipeline to be completed and is pleading with OPEC nations to produce more oil, destroying thousands of well-paying American jobs and shipping profits to adversarial nations.

At least extremists who sought to derail the Line 3 replacement project here in Minnesota have been unsuccessful.

Our demand for natural gas and oil has rebounded from the pandemic much more quickly than supply, but this is not because energy producers won’t step up. Again, bureaucrats have publicly discouraged investment in U.S. natural gas and oil while unsuccessfully asking other nations to raise supply.

As a result of these and other factors, supply hasn’t kept pace with demand, contributing to increased gasoline and natural gas prices. Today’s inadequate energy supply puts additional strain on individual households, erodes consumers’ broader purchasing power and threatens jobs. It also stifles our larger economic recovery, potentially contributing to higher inflation.

We should do everything we can to steady the situation. That starts with shifting the focus away from tax increases and toward leadership on energy. Look at North Dakota, which not only has the massive Bakken Formation oil reserve, but also is leading the way on market-driven advancements in clean energy production through Minnkota Power Cooperative’s Project Tundra carbon-capture project.

Project Tundra is a centerpiece of North Dakota’s ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. The project is designed to capture CO2 on site and permanently store it more than a mile underground in a geologic formation. Reports indicate it is designed to capture 90 percent of the CO2 produced from either unit at the Milton R. Young Station located near Center, N.D. – the equivalent to taking 800,000 gasoline-fueled vehicles off the road.

These advancements in energy research and development are establishing North Dakota as a worldwide leader in this field, helping to help meet ever-increasing energy demands through an all-of-the-above approach to producing clean power.

Meanwhile, we are taking a vastly different approach here in Minnesota. Instead of harnessing the power of innovation, the focus too often centers on top-down bureaucracy. For example, our governor is forcing electric cars onto our marketplace and members of the House majority are pushing to repeal bipartisan legislation enacted to construct a natural-gas fired power plant in Becker in the wake of coal shutdowns at Sherco.

We need policies that support safe and responsible American energy production. This includes access to reserves, timely infrastructure approvals and sensible oil and gas permitting. Natural gas and oil are critically important to us today and will remain so tomorrow, so let’s establish some certainty.

“Buy local” is a phrase that we should apply to energy production, putting Americans to work tapping into our own massive resources. It would boost our economy and reduce – or even altogether eliminate – our dependence on foreign oil, all while providing more well-paying jobs as people call for increased wages.