In an effort to bridge the partisan divide in the House, Tim Walz (D), along with 20 other congressmen and women (equally divided between Republicans and Democrats,) joined together to form the Bipartisan House Energy Working Group to directly address possible short-term, mid-term, and long-term solutions to America's energy crisis and dependence on foreign oil.

The group drafted the National Conservation, Environment and Energy Independence Act, which operates in three parts:

1. "America must produce more of our oil and gas at home because we can’t keep buying it from countries that all too often do not have America’s best interests at heart."

2. "We must promote new alternative and renewable sources of energy, which requires a dedicated funding stream for research and development."

3. "We need to expand our domestic energy production in an environmentally smart way so our energy and economic future is sustainable."

The bill supports lifting the ban on offshore drilling and tapping into the petroleum reserves along the Outer Continental Shelf. By drilling offshore no less than 25 miles off compliant states' coastlines, Walz argues, we as a nation can begin to untie ourselves from foreign sources, provide ourselves the financial freedoms to pursue alternative and renewable energy resources, and invest in the research and technologies to utilize them.

True to his plan for US economic revival which refused any golden parachutes for Wall Street and rejected any plan for bailout, Walz voted against the revised proposal for a Wall Street bailout last week. He insists that the bill, which received scrutiny from the beginning for not providing taxpayers with sufficient coverage in exchange for their $700 billion, is still not secure for the American middle-class.

Walz says he refuses to support a bill that sends billions of dollars abroad to foreign banks to cover mistakes made by financial investors and provides little chance of homeowners getting mortgage relief. Strip away all of the little add-ons from the Senate, says Walz, and you have the same piece of legislation.

Walz: “I’m disappointed that instead the Senate sent this bill back to the House with $100 billion in unpaid for additional spending that will be added directly to the national debt. Further, it saddens me that I must vote against this bailout which includes provisions that I’ve long supported such as the Wellstone Mental Health Parity Act and the renewable energy tax incentives. Now that this bill has gone through, we must begin investigating why this crisis happened and what must be done to make sure this never happens again.”