Reed, Whitehouse Call for Real Solutions to High Energy Prices

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 25, 2006

Reed, Whitehouse Call for Real Solutions to High Energy Prices
Bush Administration Offers No Plan for Energy Independence

Cranston, R.I. - With energy costs a real concern for middle class Rhode Islanders, Senator Jack Reed joined Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sheldon Whitehouse today in Pawtuxet Park in Warwick to discuss the Bush administration's failure to offer real solutions to America's continued dependence on foreign oil.

"Affordable gasoline, home heating oil, and natural gas aren't luxuries, they're necessities," Whitehouse said. "After passing an energy bill packed with subsidies for oil and gas companies, pushing for drilling in environmentally sensitive areas of the Gulf of Mexico, and paying little more than lip service to alternatives, the Bush-Republican energy policy neither protects consumers nor lessens our dependence on foreign oil. We can't afford that - and that's why we can no longer afford Republican leadership in the Senate."

A gallon of gas costs about $2.51 in Rhode Island today. Home heating oil averages $2.45 per gallon, and if prices follow regional projections, Rhode Islanders could see a jump of almost 4% heading into the end of 2006. Regionally, home energy prices are expected to increase as winter's cold temperatures set in and the demand for home heating rises.

President Bush's FY07 budget request would have made things worse, by proposing cuts to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). Under the Bush budget, the LIHEAP funding level of $1.782 billion would be $400 million below what was enacted in FY05, and WAP would be subjected to a $78 million reduction from the $242,550,000 appropriated last year. Both LIHEAP and WAP are significant to Rhode Island consumers. In 2005, over 26,000 Rhode Island families received primary LIHEAP grants and almost 900 homes were weatherized through WAP. According to federal estimates, approximately 42% of Rhode Island homes use heating oil as their primary fuel.

In August, Whitehouse unveiled a major new plan aiming to make America the world's leader in energy innovation and achieve energy independence by 2020. The plan includes a bold new federal initiative to partner with private industry in creating new energy technologies, raising Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to an average of 40 mpg to cut oil dependency by increasing fuel efficiency, enhancement of incentives for energy efficient appliances and buildings, and new federal initiatives to spur the use of renewables like wind, solar, and cellulosic biofuels in our homes and on our highways. The plan is designed to lower prices for consumers by reducing demand for fossil fuels, safeguard our national security by ending the flow of oil dollars to unfriendly or unstable regimes, and protect our environment by moving to cleaner fuels.

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