Baldwin Supports Bipartisan Energy Plan Compromise

Press Release

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, a Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, last night supported, and the House passed (236-189), a bipartisan plan to help end our dependence on foreign oil and encourage the development of renewable energy sources to bring down costs and protect our environment.

The Comprehensive American Energy Security & Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 6899) will decrease our reliance on foreign oil by allowing new offshore drilling, with limitations, while expanding our domestic renewable energy supply, creating more efficient vehicles, and requiring energy efficiency in new buildings, homes, and infrastructure. It also will lower costs to consumers and protect the interests of taxpayers by making sure big oil companies pay their fair share.

"This measure establishes a comprehensive strategy with real solutions to our energy problems," said Rep. Baldwin. "While the bill is far from perfect, it is an important and constructive effort to break the gridlock in Washington and solve serious problems facing families throughout Wisconsin and the nation," Baldwin said.

Among other things, the bill:

Lowers costs to consumers and protects taxpayers by:

* Releasing nearly 10% of the oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve and replaces it later with heavier, cheaper crude oil. Past releases from the reserve have brought down prices by up to 33 percent.
* Ensuring that oil companies pay their fair share of royalties on flawed leases granted in 1998 and 1999. Oil companies holding 70 percent of these leases issued for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico pay no royalties on this oil, costing American taxpayers about $15 billion.
* Repealing tax subsidies and closing a foreign tax loophole for large oil companies.

Creates jobs and promotes renewable energy by:

* Extending and expanding tax incentives for renewable energy. Among the provisions are: $18 billion in tax cuts to spur green jobs and American energy independence, including investment tax credits for solar energy and fuel cells and production tax credits for energy derived from wind, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, landfill gas and solid waste.
* Creating incentives for plug-in vehicles and energy efficient homes, buildings, and appliances. Investments in renewable energy create three to five times as many jobs as investments in fossil-fuel energy.
* Requiring that utility companies generate 15 percent of electricity from renewable sources -- such as wind power, biomass, wave, tidal, geothermal and solar -- by 2020. A 15 percent Renewable Electricity Standard will reduce global warming emissions and lower energy prices, saving consumers $13-18 billion cumulatively by 2020.

Expands our domestic energy supply by:

* Requiring oil companies to drill on the 68 million acres of federal lands they already control.
* Permitting leasing between 50 and 100 miles offshore if a state ‘opts-in' to allow leasing off its coastline by enacting a state law with strict environmental protections.
* Increasing domestic oil production in Alaska.
* Promoting natural gas and E-85 infrastructure.
* Advancing the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to come up with a cleaner way to use coal.

Promotes greater energy efficiency and conservation by:

* Providing incentives for energy efficient homes, updating energy codes for new building and expanding support for public transportation.

Source