New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act

Floor Speech

NEW DIRECTION FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT -- (House of Representatives - August 04, 2007)

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Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this misguided energy bill, or the ``energy without half the lights on'' bill.

There's a saying in West Virginia that coal keeps the lights on, but H.R. 3321 effectively turns off the lights on the country's energy supply. It's important to our economy, to family budgets, and to businesses across the country that we increase our supply of domestically produced energy of all types. That includes energy from renewable sources, like wind, but it should also include more traditional energy sources like clean coal and natural gas that provide the bulk of our country's energy.

We need to take advantage of our own natural resources to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. Yet the bill we consider today does nothing to support clean coal to liquid fuels. This country has a 240-year supply of coal that could be used to replace some of the imported oil we currently use for transportation fuel. Coal provides over one-half of our Nation's electricity and well over 95 percent of the power in my State of West Virginia.

Where is it in this bill? This is the ``no energy'' energy bill. Clean coal has the potential to be a major part of the solution in reducing our reliance on foreign oil through many technologies, among those, coal-to-liquid.

Besides being a major coal producer, my State of West Virginia also has a large oil and gas business and a large chemical industry that relies on natural gas as a feedstock. This bill's provisions will likely delay or reduce access to a significant portion of our natural gas reserves.

Increasing natural gas prices will drive up the cost of chemical manufacturing and cost more workers in this industry their jobs. An economist in my local paper this morning said, ``The fewer lands open for drilling, the higher the price for natural gas. It's not a good thing for consumers.''

It simply defies logic that this House, on one hand, can condemn the high cost of energy price at the pump, heating and cooling, while on the other hand refuse to act on clean coal legislation, coal liquefaction, and cut off access to domestic oil shale and natural gas.

If the new direction in domestic policy means turning our back on domestic coal or turning off half our lights and if it means cutting off our access to our own natural gas and oil shale so we can be held hostage by foreign countries for energy or if it turns out half the lights or 95 percent of the lights in my State of West Virginia, I want no part of it.

I urge my colleagues to reject this energy legislation.

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