 |
| Energy Policy`s Long Path |
April 25, 2005 |
| |
Dear Friends,
Sometimes it takes so long to get legislation finished that you forget to mention all the good things in it and the long path you`ve been on. The energy bill is that way.
When I came to the Congress in 1998, the Energy Subcommittee on which I serve was holding lengthy hearings on electricity reliability and transmission, oil and gas exploration, next generation power plants and the cost of gasoline.
The House passed an Energy bill in 2001, but there was no Senate counterpart. Then we did it again in 2003 and the Senate did as well. In 2003, the Senate and House negotiators reached agreement and the compromise passed the House in November 2003 by a vote of 246 to 180 with bipartisan support. That compromise got stopped in the Senate with only 58 votes -- two votes short of being able to stop a filibuster.
So, over 7 years after we started trying to get a balanced, long term energy policy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and preserve the beauty of the land we love, we just passed one again.
The bill has many of the same provisions that have passed before with strong bipartisan support, some of which I played an important role in crafting.
We can`t conserve our way out of the energy problem, and we cannot drill our way out of it either. We have to have a balanced approach. The energy bill includes a 2000 acre limitation on exploration in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge that John Sununu and I initially offered as a compromise in 2001. That`s about the size of a municipal airport in an area the size of South Carolina. Advanced technology makes it possible to extract the energy we need while minimizing disturbance of the land.
The bill includes tax incentives for alternative fuels, conservation efforts, research on hydrogen cars, and next generation nuclear power. And the Teamster`s Union estimates that the energy bill will create over half a million jobs.
When I filled up in the north valley this weekend, it was $2.20 a gallon. High gas prices put a dent in everyone`s budget, including small businesses that create jobs.
We need to pass a balanced long term energy plan for the country. The House bill is a very good step in that direction.
Wish you were here,
|
|
|
|