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by Rep. Steny Hoyer
Sunday, July 30, 2006
In Maryland, the price of a regular gallon of gas has risen 67 cents in the last year. The cost of a barrel of oil has increased from $30 when President Bush took office to near $80 today. Many Southern Marylanders that commute to Washington DC are spending hundreds of dollars a month on gasoline alone. Meanwhile, we continue to rely on foreign nations for the majority of our oil supply, many in the increasingly unstable Middle East region. It is past due time for Congress to address this crisis with energy independence legislation.
This week, I unveiled the Program for Real Energy Security (PROGRESS) Act, a comprehensive energy bill that would constitute a major national effort to make substantial gains in technology, conservation and vehicle efficiency, and the use of alternative fuels.
It is time for America to engage in a “Manhattan style” project that brings government, business, and the science and environmental communities to the table to promote and expand alternative energy sources and make more efficient vehicles that burn cleaner fuels. The PROGRESS Act is vital to our economic and national security, and to keeping our nation strong and secure into the future.
The PROGRESS Act has five major components:
- Establishes a National Energy Security Commission that would bring together government, industry and academic leaders to develop national goals that respect regional energy solutions and develop recommendations that Congress would have to act upon under expedited rules.
- Establishes a New Manhattan Center for High Efficiency Vehicles that would create an advanced vehicle efficiency consortium and dramatically increase the federal commitment to alternative fuels and vehicle technology programs.
- Establishes a National Biofuels Infrastructure Development Program that would reimburse private sector partners to share the costs of investing in the wholesale and retail biofuels pumps, tanks, and other related distribution equipment.
- Promotes Transit Use & Developing a Rail Infrastructure Program that would create a stimulus package to promote public transit and infrastructure investments that upgrade the pipeline for biofuels - the freight rail system - in order to get an affordable and reliable supply of biofuels to market.
- Ensures Federal Government Leadership in the Use of the Alternatives to Oil by increasing the use of alternative fuels in federal and state fleets, developing biofuel plants in every region of the country, and speeding development of standards that are needed to promote alternative fuels use.
Unfortunately, the Republicans’ failure to craft a real energy strategy over the last five years has helped ensure that Americans would pay a very high price at the gasoline pump today and for at least the next several years.
They have continually proposed a one-note solution—more drilling. Drilling for petroleum would do little to bolster our long term oil supply and potentially cause irrevocable damage to our nation’s environment. We must think outside the box. Now is the time to summon and focus the unique American will and ingenuity to achieve real energy independence.
One way to make strides toward energy independence is to reexamine the way we get around. Earlier this month, I test drove a hydrogen car to highlight the tremendous potential fuel cells have to power vehicles without greenhouse gas emissions, one of the leading causes of global warming. The PROGRESS Act would invest in the research and development of more efficient vehicles, thereby allowing them to be priced more competitively.
The issue of energy independence is far too important to the future of our children and our nation to sit idly by. Fostering a safer, cleaner, and more prosperous America requires that we reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It is time to achieve real progress.
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