Cap and Trade Revenue

Floor Speech

Cap and Trade Revenue -- (Senate - May 07, 2008)

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Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I rise to join in this discussion. I know my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have been out here talking about energy issues and the high price of gasoline.

I certainly know when the Senate works together on energy policy, we get things done. The 2000 Senate Energy bill is an example of that, of how we worked in a bipartisan fashion. That bill, when it is fully implemented over the next 20 years, will save families over $1,000 a year at gas stations. That is because we put a good policy into place.

The question is where we are going to go from here. I have listened to some of the things my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have said, and I hope when we are done with our statements, we can sit down and work together on trying to implement more legislation that will help the American consumer. But I think the notion that where we are today is a rational market and that supply and demand is driving what we are seeing, a 100-percent increase over last year in oil prices, is not correct.

We just had a hearing in the Commerce Committee where airline executives were testifying, and they said they don't think this is supply and demand, and it has obviously caused a great impact on their industry. They would like us to be more aggressive in policing the markets, and they offered some suggestions. But many of my colleagues have been out here talking about opening drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. Well, we have had this debate. We have had it numerous times. I always like the administration's own Energy Information Agency that says drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge would result, when it is fully implemented 10 or 20 years from now, in 1-penny-per-gallon savings. So that means when you take the average driving of a consumer at 400 or 500 gallons of gasoline in a year, you would have saved $5 on your annual gas bill from drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge.

God only gave the United States 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. We are not going to drill our way out of this situation. But I ask my colleagues to look at what is causing this problem because we have oil company executives who are saying oil should be at $50 to $55 a barrel. This is the oil companies testifying in April. So they are saying the market isn't functioning correctly when it is at $120 a barrel.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.

Ms. CANTWELL. I thank the Chair.

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