Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires the Department of Energy to secure the supply of critical energy resources that are essential to U.S. energy security.

Highlights:

• Requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to secure the supply of critical energy resources that are essential to the energy security of the United States (Sec. 2).

• Defines “critical energy resource” as an energy resource that is essential to the energy sector and energy systems of the United States, and the supply chain of which is vulnerable to disruption (Sec. 2).

• Requires DOE, as part of its duties, to conduct ongoing assessments of the following (Sec. 3):

• Energy resource criticality;

• The U.S. supply chain of critical energy resources and its vulnerabilities;

• The diversity of domestic critical energy resource supply chains;

• Capacity constraints on the domestic production of critical energy resources;

• Federal regulations affecting the domestic production or importation of critical energy resources;

• How energy security is affected by reliance on imports of critical energy resources; and 

• How adversarial nations seek to exploit critical energy resource markets to undermine investment in the United States.

• Requires DOE to additionally do the following (Sec. 3):

• Facilitate the development of strategies to strengthen critical energy resource supply chains;

• Develop substitutes and alternatives to critical energy resources; and

• Improve technology that reuses and recycles critical energy resources.

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text