Gordon Smith
United States Senator, Oregon
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Now more than ever, Oregon families are feeling the economic pinch of skyrocketing energy costs.  To help alleviate the burden to both our pocketbooks and the environment, we must drive America into a future of clean and independent energy. I am pleased to be a part of strong bipartisan efforts in the Senate to reduce our dependence on foreign source of oil and increase our production of domestic clean energy.

Right in our state of Oregon, we are home to abundant sources of renewable energy – from wind to solar to geothermal to wave technologies. We are also state of innovators. Congress must empower states like Oregon to find modern solutions that will allow our nation to run on renewable, independent and clean energy. If we can put a man on the moon, surely we can develop more efficient and clean energy on our own soil.

Senator Smith has worked to strengthen America’s energy policy by:

  • Advancing green energy at every turn - introduced twenty-nine separate tax bills promoting green energy such as wind, solar, biomass, wave, and geothermal.
  • Working with Ron Wyden and the Oregon delegation to secure transportation funding for light rail in Portland and other critical infrastructure improvements across the state, secured Oregon over $90 million in federal funding in 2007 alone.
  • Pushed the first new fuel mileage standard in two decades with Senator Obama which went into effect this year.
  • Secured funding for innovative biomass in Umatilla and geothermal in Klamath Falls to fighting to protect our long lived hydropower dams. 
  • Authoring a new law with Senator Cantwell to ban price gouging at the gas pump during disasters. 
  • Secured $24.3 million in funding for the Pacific Northwest’s first cellulosic ethanol plant in Boardman.

Senator Smith's long-standing record of supporting an increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards/Advanced technology vehicles:

  • Introduced S. 767 and S. 768 with Senator Obama, The Fuel Economy Reform Act. S. 767 increased fuel economy standards for vehicles to 27.5 beginning in 2013, and by 4 percent annually after that.  S. 768 also included tax incentives for automakers to retool and for consumers to purchase advanced technology vehicles and was referred to the Finance Committee. 110th Congress.
  • Introduced S. 3694 with Senator Obama, the Fuel Economy Reform Act.  Increased fuel economy standards for vehicles to 27.5 beginning in 2012, and by 4 percent annually after that. 109th Congress.
  • Voted for the Senate passage of the 2007 energy bill, which included an increase in CAFE standards (Vote 226, 110th Congress, 1st Session, passed 65-27)
  • Cosponsored S. 971, Clean Efficient Automobiles Resulting from Advanced Car Technologies (CLEAR ACT), a bill to provide incentives for alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles, and the infrastructure needed for their commercialization. 109th Congress. 
  • Cosponsored S. 505, the Clean Efficient Automobiles Resulting From Advanced Car Technologies (CLEAR) Act of 2003.
  • Cosponsored an amendment with Senator Kerry no. 2999 to increase fuel economy standards to 36 mpg by 2015.  107th Congress, Second Session.
  • Cosponsored S. 760, the Clean Efficient Automobiles Resulting From Advanced Care Technologies (CLEAR) Act of 2001.
  • Cosigned a letter to President Clinton urging the Administration to work with the Congress to implement the CAFE law and improve standards for SUVs and light-duty trucks.   March 5, 1999.
  • Voted for a Sense of the Senate amendment no. 1677 that sought to strike provisions that prevented an increase in CAFE standards.  (Vote 275, 106th Congress, 1st Session)

 


Related Press Releases
   09-26 -  Solar Energy Industries Assoc. Names Smith as 2008 National Solar Energy Champion
   09-19 -  OSU to Help Create New Wave of Green Energy
   07-16 -  Smith Pushes for LIHEAP Funding Increase
   07-09 -  Smith, Cantwell Bill Will Help Green Roofs Grow
   06-13 -  Smith, Wyden Push to Plant Green Roots in Community Colleges
   06-06 -  Smith: We Must Move Towards a Green Future
Other Issues :
    Agriculture
    Defense and Foreign Policy
    Economy
    Education
    Energy
    Health Care
    Natural Resources
    Senators Smith and Wyden's 110th Congress Bipartisan Agenda
    Transportation
    Veterans Affairs