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Wyden: ‘Energy Bill a Series of Missed Opportunities’
Senator was a conferee on final House-Senate
Energy legislation;
argues that bill doesn’t do enough to reduce U.S. dependence
on foreign oil
August 8, 2005
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the House-Senate Conference Committee
and a member of the Senate Energy Committee, criticized the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 today upon its signature into law as not doing
enough to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, and
calling the bill “a series of missed opportunities, stuffed
with a smorgasbord of subsidies for energy industries like oil,
coal, nuclear and ethanol.” Wyden voted against the legislation
in late July, arguing that the bill does not do nearly enough
to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, does nothing
to reduce the price of gasoline, and continues a decades-long
policy of heavily subsidizing energy companies with taxpayer dollars.
“I defy anybody to say how
this will produce a concrete, significant reduction in our dependence
on foreign oil in the next twenty years,” said Wyden. “On
the crucial national security question – will this make
us less dependent on the Middle East and more secure at home –
this bill fails the test.”
In the wake of the London transit
bombings, Wyden spoke regarding the “terror tax” Americans
pay for our nation’s dependence on foreign oil. Wyden discussed
how funds find their way from American consumers’ gasoline
purchases to extremists who wish to attack the U.S. and other
democracies. To read Wyden’s speech, go to http://wyden.senate.gov/media/speeches/2005/07112005_end_terror_tax.html
Following passage of the Energy
Bill by Congress late last month, Wyden spoke on the floor of
the U.S. Senate, blasting the legislation for not doing enough
to improve the nation’s energy policy for the future and
explained his vote against the legislation. The full text of Wyden’s
remarks can be seen at http://wyden.senate.gov/media/speeches/2005/07292005_energybill_conference_report_statement.html
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