I’ve had the privilege of visiting all 50 states, and I can confidently say America is unparalleled in its beauty, diversity, heritage, and bounty of natural resources. From deserts, to mountains, to marshes, to coastlines, and everything in between, ours is a country unlike any other. Church organist Katherine Lee Bates perhaps said it best when, inspired by her view from atop Pikes Peak, she penned the now familiar refrain, “Oh beautiful, for spacious skies/For amber waves of grain/For purple mountain majesties/Above the fruited plain.”

Given our vast natural wonders and resources, we have an incredible responsibility to care for them well. I believe this is our unchosen obligation, stewarding our resources in such a way that leaves them in better condition than we inherited them.

Unfortunately, environmental stewardship often takes a backseat to competing bureaucratic interests. It doesn’t have to be this way. Scientific forest management can curb devastating wildfires, sustainable energy production can occur right here at home, and local leaders can effectively manage and care for the wildlife native to their communities. That’s the goal. So how do we get there?

First, we start by acknowledging America is unmatched in innovation and potential. We should always be searching for ways to make the environment cleaner, healthier, and more resilient, but that does not negate how far we’ve already come. Instead of engaging in the left’s punitive, doomsday scare tactics, we must instead unleash the full potential of American industry and solutions. The U.S. is already a leader in reducing emissions and clean technology. Let’s keep it that way by allowing the free market to work.

Second, we have to hold global aggressors accountable. Look no further than Putin’s unhinged rampage in Ukraine. He’s not concerned about environmental regulations, yet he controls vast energy sources like the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and uses them as leverage to get what he wants. Americans feel pain at the gas pump as a direct result. That’s why Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and I introduced the American Energy Independence from Russia Act, to promote the clean, safe production of American energy to meet our national needs and those of our allies.

It’s not just energy resources that Russia leverages for its own gains; Russia also has a booming forest products industry. Last year alone, the U.S. imported half a billion dollars’ worth of forest products from Russia and Belarus. That’s why I introduced the No Timber from Tyrants Act, which would immediately ban these imports and cut a significant portion of Putin’s economy off at the knees, while simultaneously boosting American industries.