43
Rep. Johnson: Consider all energy options
Photo
U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Poland, R-6th
BOARDMAN
To keep energy prices affordable, any and all options must be considered, said U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson.
“We need to look at all forms of energy, whether it’s coal, natural gas, petroleum,” he said Wednesday. “We need to be drilling for our resources.”
Johnson of Marietta, R-6th, also mentioned solar and wind energy and that the country needs a comprehensive energy plan.
“There is nothing in the American culture that we have ever done that is risk-averse,” he said, specifically pointing to aviation and mining for coal.
Johnson, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said the Obama administration is stopping the nation from tapping into its energy resources and becoming “energy self-sufficient.”
“We’ve got a big problem in this country,” he said. “We see gas prices go through the ceiling. They’re now, in many places, over $4 a gallon. Americans have been struggling, particularly here in the 6th District, where we have unemployment already over 10 percent.”
Johnson made the comments in response to questions asked by the media after he toured Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley-Beeghly Campus.
Johnson, in his first year in Congress, recently was listed by the National Journal, a political magazine and website, as among the top 10 Republicans in the U.S. House most vulnerable to redistricting. Ohio is losing two House seats because the state’s population didn’t grow as fast as the nation’s.
When asked about the list, Johnson laughed and said, “I certainly don’t feel vulnerable.”
Other publications and websites also have mentioned Johnson potentially being redistricted to compete with a fellow Republican in an area that would be to his disadvantage.
Johnson recently relocated from Poland, which is in the 17th District and about two miles from the 6th, to Marietta, in the heart of the 6th District.
Because of Mahoning County’s shrinking population, it is expected that the portion of the county currently in the 6th would be added to the 17th District for next year’s election.
Johnson added that there are those who would like to see him “on the redistricting chopping-block because they know we’re going to continue fighting, and we’re going to fight hard for the people of the 6th District.”