Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation Act of 2007

Floor Speech

CREATING LONG-TERM ENERGY ALTERNATIVES FOR THE NATION ACT OF 2007 -- (Senate - June 21, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise tonight because we are on the precipice of passing new energy legislation--new energy legislation that will point our country in a new direction, on an energy strategy that is about cleaner, renewable alternative fuel, and, yes, on research and development, on many other ways that will help us, as Americans, be energy leaders again.

It is exciting to be here tonight on the Senate floor as new legislation is being adopted that does change the direction in ways my colleagues have been fighting for many years and many of the staff who are behind me have been fighting for much of their legislative careers on the Hill. But we are here tonight because Senator Reid, early this year, asked six different committees to come up with energy legislation and point our country in a new direction. He asked each of those committees to put those proposals on the Senate floor by passing them out in a bipartisan fashion, and those committees have done so.

Now, while we have not gotten all those packages together, we do have a proposal before us that would save the United States 20 percent on the oil consumption of today. That is a great goal. It does it in two fundamental ways: by making sure we produce alternative fuel--and what is before us tonight is 36 billion gallons of alternative fuel, mostly done by advanced technologies of cellulosic that will be a much bigger reduction of CO2 emissions than corn-based ethanol, and that is a huge direction change--and the amendment of the Senator from California to make sure we have fuel-efficient cars.

For the first time in decades, we are passing legislation that will allow Americans to get more out of a tank of gas. In fact, with this new standard for fuel efficiency, Americans, when they fill up their tank, will be able to go anywhere from 100 to 150 more miles on that tank of gas when these fuel efficiency standards are fully implemented.

Because we are also including a flex-fuel provision, we are giving Americans a chance to have their automobiles run on two different fuel choices: fossil fuel or new advanced green renewable fuels that will be a great reduction of CO 2 and carbon emissions and will help in the reduction of demand for gasoline and thereby help lower the price of gasoline. This is exactly what America wants us to do in a new energy direction.

We should also emphasize that the underlying bill tonight also has protections for consumers on price gouging and to make sure the Federal Trade Commission stops any manipulative practices. It also has a provision that the Federal Government do its job as one of the leading energy consumers in America. It says they have to use 30 percent less electricity and 20 percent less fuel.

Now, while I would like to see the provisions the Finance Committee passed that literally take the incentives which have been given to the fossil fuel industry in the past--take those and apply those to renewable technologies--we will have to wait another day for that battle to occur.

I certainly join my colleagues in wanting to see more of our electricity grid supplied with green energy technology, to incentivize solar, to incentivize wind. I believe this is one of the best ways we can keep our electricity costs down in the future. Right now, we are too dependent on natural gas, for which we have seen a 70-percent increase in the last several years. Natural gas, which is also used in fertilizer as a product, is putting pressure on our electricity grid prices. We do not want to be just dependent on natural gas and coal for electricity generation.

So coming back to this renewable standard and getting more of our national grid to rely on clean energy is very important to help consumers keep down price in the future. But those two provisions, we will have to come back to. We were not able to reach agreement on those.

But in this landmark legislation, we are going to give Americans more for their tank of gas by passing fuel efficiency and passing the opportunity to fill up their gas tank with something other than fossil fuel. Driving down the price of fossil fuel is a great accomplishment. We would not have gotten here if it was not for the chairman of the Commerce Committee and the ranking member, Senators Inouye and Stevens, who worked very hard to make sure this was bipartisan legislation, as did Senator Snowe, working with Senator Feinstein, making sure this legislation made it the full way through the process.

While this is only the Senate taking action tonight, we are clearly turning our country in a new direction. This is a greener energy bill than the Senate has passed before but rightly so because the 2005 bill did set us on a course of making sure we were investing in alternatives. The fact that we were putting a downpayment on those alternatives has led to job creation, not just in my State, Washington State, but throughout the country. But it is time for us to accelerate that, to bring job opportunities to Americans across the country, by making sure these new technologies are implemented. We are well poised to do that tonight.

I hope my colleagues understand the significance of this new energy direction. I thank all of the chairs of the various committees who have worked hard on a bipartisan basis--the Finance Committee, the EPW Committee, the Energy Committee, the Commerce Committee, and even the Homeland Security Committee--in making sure our Federal Government is more energy efficient. This is a great time for us to continue the bipartisan effort in working not just across the aisle but working with the House of Representatives in making sure this energy legislation passes as soon as possible.

Again, I applaud the great work of my colleague, Senator Feinstein, for her perseverance over at least 10 years in trying to close the loopholes that have existed in CAFE, the car efficiency standards, by making sure the loopholes for SUVs were closed. Even though she did not win that battle, she persevered tonight to make sure this new efficiency standard, applied across the Nation, can bring real savings to American consumers.

I thank the Presiding Officer, and I yield the floor.

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