Energy Policy Act of 2003-Conference Report-Continued

ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2003-CONFERENCE REPORT-CONTINUED

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to speak also to the Energy conference report. Unlike some of the previous speakers I listened to in the past 2 hours that I have been in the Chamber, I stand in support of the agreement that was reached in conference. It has been pointed out that this is not a perfect bill. I would be the first to chime in and say I agree with that. But in an effort to achieve the perfect, I don't think we should overlook the good in the conference report.

Because of the hard work of Chairman Domenici and his staff, working with the others on the conference agreement, and spending many, many hours to reach the consensus we have before us, I think we can truly say this is a good bill and a bill that should be signed into law. There has been a great deal of talk, not just during this legislative session but in years previous: We need to have an energy policy for this country. We need to have the framework for an energy policy.

It seems to me that so often what we do is react to situations, whether it is the blackout we experienced in August, or when the price of gasoline increases to a level where it gets our attention. We only respond when there is something that gets our attention and focuses the Nation on energy.

Quite honestly, most Americans don't pay attention to energy. They don't pay attention to how they get their lights to turn on, or how we keep the temperature cool or warm. I have said many times as I talk about energy, most Americans ascribe to the immaculate conception theory of energy: It just happens. We know that is not the case. It doesn't just happen. It takes innovation. It takes incentives. It takes capital. It takes the desire to do something.

But without the energy we have in this country, we would not have the freedoms or the liberties we take for granted-the ability to do what we want, to go where we want to go. We need to recognize that energy is something that has built our country and made us strong. We need to continue with that sound policy. I believe the conference report we have in front of us is a good first step toward that sound policy.

As I say that in very general terms, I have to start off that this is not my perfect bill. At the top of my list for an energy policy for this country would be the opening of ANWR. We don't see that coming out of the conference report. Congress had the opportunity to include language that would have generated over 1 million jobs for American workers by allowing for oil and gas exploration on just 2,000 acres of Alaska's North Slope.

I know we tried to keep ANWR in the conference report. The chairman was working hard. But we were threatened with that constant threat of a filibuster. You can't put ANWR in the Energy bill or it will be filibustered. It seems a little ironic to be standing here tonight. ANWR is not in the Energy bill yet we are still slowed in the task of getting to a vote on the Energy bill.

The House adopted ANWR and wanted it in the conference report but there were continued objections, primarily from the environmental groups, that have kept us and will keep us this year from moving forward with jobs that truly could have been promised with the opening of ANWR.

I have made the invitation to the Senators here on the floor and I know my counterpart, Senator Stevens, has made the effort to invite all Senators to visit ANWR and see what this dispute over opening the Coastal Plain of ANWR to oil and gas exploration is all about. We want you to see Prudhoe Bay. We want you to see the developments in Alpine and the technology we have utilized to provide for the exploration and development of oil up on the North Slope. We want you to see the minimal impact to the environment, and how technology has helped us to advance.

I get a few takers, primarily in the summertime. But I encourage you to come up in the wintertime. This is when we do the production up there. I know that is kind of a chilly invitation to some, but I think it would help to understand what we are dealing with in Alaska, how vast our spaces are, and just how small of an area the Coastal Plain of ANWR, the 1002 area, really is, in comparison.

I agree with those of my colleagues who would argue we cannot drill our way to independence from foreign oil. They are absolutely right. We have to have the incentives for renewable energy sources. We have to have greater technological efficiency. We have to decrease our energy consumption. Those efforts need to be part of this comprehensive energy package. But we must also have increased domestic production. I suggest to you again, if you are going to argue that we need to have energy security, if we want to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, the first place we should be looking is ANWR.

But I am not going to go into any further discussion about ANWR at this time. You have certainly heard the debate before. It will be an issue that we will revisit. We will continue to push for opening ANWR.

I want to take one more second to remind folks that we had an opportunity here for over one million jobs across the Nation, at a time when millions are unemployed in our country. But some Members have declined to accept that offer. Instead, we are talking about extending unemployment benefits.

I suggest to you that the unemployed people in my State, if given a choice, would certainly prefer to have a job than more unemployment benefits.

But when we speak about jobs, I should not be talking exclusively in the negative here because all is not lost. We have an incredible opportunity in Alaska with our natural gas. Several very important provisions are included in this bill that will promote the construction of a natural gas pipeline to transport the vast quantities of natural gas that we have up on our North Slope, to bring it to market in the lower 48, be it down the Alaska Canadian Highway or through LNG tankers to the west coast. We have 35 trillion cubic feet of gas up there now.

You have heard Members in the Chamber talking about the fact that right now that gas is stranded up there. Right now that gas is being reinjected instead of being shipped down here to the lower 48, where we need it. We have provisions in the Energy bill to get that gas where it is needed: We have guaranteed loans, expedited judicial and environmental reviews, and a program to train pipeline workers-again, talking about the jobs aspect. The pipeline, if constructed, could provide over one million jobs, direct and indirect jobs, through the construction of this pipeline alone.

But the key here is, if this pipeline is constructed, there are no guarantees. We have done a great deal in this legislation to encourage the construction of the line.

There is one provision that generated a great deal of attention and focus but is not included. There would have been a production credit to ensure the economic viability and provide a safety net in the event the price of gas drops to very low levels. That is not included in the legislation.

This is a huge project. People need to understand how huge. This is a $20 billion project, 3,500 miles in length, 5 million tons of steel, delivering billions of cubic feet of gas per day to a nation that is starved right now for natural gas. And the situation is just getting worse.

It would be the biggest construction project of its kind in the country. It is something that we can only imagine. When we imagine huge projects like this, every now and again they take a little bit of a boost to get going. What we have done in the Energy bill is to provide that boost, to provide the incentives to encourage the construction.

Again, what we are providing is grants to authorize training of the crews and workers who will construct and operate the pipeline.

We limit the period of time to bring a claim, if a claim should arrive, and we expedite the claim so the project doesn't get bogged down in the courts.

We authorize the construction of the pipeline. We have loan guarantees of up to 80 percent of the cost of the project. It would be an $18 billion Federal loan guarantee-probably the largest loan guarantee we have ever seen given to a project here in the United States.

We have also included a 15-percent enhanced oil recovery credit for the $2.6 billion gas handling plant that will be required on the North Slope.

We have provided for accelerated depreciation on the project, again helping to provide that incentive which we need to encourage construction of this line.

This only happens, the jobs only come, if the construction happens, if we can get moving with the line, if we convince the producers that it is timely, it is necessary, and that the demand is there. I think we have established that the demand is clearly there.

I am going to be working with the State of Alaska and the industry to examine the options and to pursue those possibilities as we push this project to completion. It is imperative that we in Congress, through the passage of this bill, make our intent known that this is a priority for the country. It is a priority for Alaska. But it must be a priority for this Nation as well.

I have been talking about the Alaska component in the bill. We are pleased with what I have spoken to so far. But we should be reminded about the other good things in the Energy bill that apply throughout the country.

Authorized annual funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, is increased from $2 billion to $3.4 billion.

There is $550 million in grants for biomass production, and it provides money for communities under 50,000 in population to improve the commercial value of their biomass.

A couple of weeks ago, I stood on the floor during the debate on the Healthy Forests legislation and I showed a picture of Alaska Chugach Forest on the Kenai Peninsula where as far as the eye can see the standing trees are dead, killed by the spruce bark beetle. With the help of grants that we are seeing in the Energy bill, those trees can be converted into a biomass fuel providing a new source of energy for low-income communities.

There is money for clean coal power energy for those projects that demonstrate the advanced technology that achieves significant emission reductions.

I need to point out that there has been discussion on this floor that through the Energy bill perhaps we are not putting enough focus on clean air, clean water, and concern for the environment. We need to understand that our environment is only going to be helped. We are only going to get cleaner air and cleaner water when we have the advanced technology instead of the old stuff we had in the past. Those technologies might take some upfront money.

I know there are programs that have already been spoken about-such as the clean schoolbuses-$100 million to retrofit existing diesel buses with new pollution control technology, $200 million in grants to replace older schoolbuses with clean alternative fuels and ultra-low sulfur fuel buses.

Also, as has been referenced, there is funding for hydropowered automobiles that the President has made such a big push for.

I might remind the body, though, that in order for us to make headway on this particular initiative, it will increase the demand for our natural gas. Again, the imperative is to move forward with a natural gas pipeline.

The bill contains language to make permanent the United States' commitment to the energy security of Israel ensuring, if Israel is unable to independently secure its own supply of oil, that the United States will procure the necessary oil to meet Israel's needs.

There is much in this Energy bill that provides the incentives and the technology to move forward. We have language that will help in the rural areas of the nation-certainly those in my State. Not only do we not have affordable energy in parts of rural Alaska, we don't have any energy to speak of. We have a long way to go, but it is only with the assistance we are seeing through the Energy bill that we will get there.

While I may suggest that Congress has missed an opportunity on certain topics, such as ANWR, this bill does offer new programs to improve our energy efficiency, increase the development and use of renewable energy resources, and promote domestic production.

It doesn't go as far as it could in reducing America's dependence on unstable foreign sources of oil, but it is the beginning of a comprehensive energy policy for this country. It is a policy that has been lacking for many, many years, and one that I feel is badly needed.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Chairman Domenici and his counterpart in the House, Chairman Tauzin. I appreciate their hard work and their leadership. Again, this is not a perfect bill, but it is a good bill. I urge my colleagues to support its adoption so we can move forward with a sound energy policy for the country.

Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.