August 2nd, 2006	Contact: Cameron Hardy 202-224-6441
THOMAS TALKS ENERGY WITH PRESIDENT BUSH Wyoming Senator visits White House residence to discuss the Energy Policy Act
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Craig Thomas met with the President this morning at the private residence of the White House to discuss major issues including energy policy. “I wanted to impress upon the President the exciting opportunities we have with developing clean coal in Wyoming. I explained how important Wyoming will be for our nation’s energy future and the multitude of ways our tremendous fossil fuel resource will benefit the nation.” Thomas also used the meeting to tout provisions in his own energy bill he introduced earlier this year. Thomas’ Energy PRICE Act lays out commonsense energy provisions to increase supply, modernize our infrastructure and consume our energy resources more efficiently in order to lower fuel prices. “It is a solid foundation of energy proposals building upon the best ideas we debated during the debate on last year’s Energy Policy Act, but were unable to include in the final package,” Thomas said. “With the first anniversary of the Energy Policy Act upon us, we have made significant progress, but we must continue to push for policy implementation in order to build our necessary infrastructure. In Wyoming, we are setting trends that other energy producing states will follow. I believe the President was genuinely impressed with the advancements we are making – particularly with clean coal and with paving the way for increased electricity transmission.” “President Bush understands the energy issues affecting our nation. Like me, he is deeply concerned with the high cost of energy and our dependence on foreign producers,” Thomas said. Senator Thomas will use the upcoming August work session to travel throughout Wyoming to discuss energy issues with people from around the state. Thomas is a senior member of both the Senate Finance and Senate Energy committees.
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