Introduction of the Energy Independence Act of 2004

INTRODUCTION OF THE ENERGY INDEPENDENCE ACT OF 2004 -- (Extensions of Remarks - November 20, 2004)

Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reintroduce the Energy Independence Act, a bill that would direct the Secretary of Energy to develop and transmit to Congress a strategic plan to ensure that the United States is energy self-sufficient in 10 years.

Like an investment portfolio, a successful national energy portfolio must be a balanced and diverse portfolio. It should include traditional fossil fuel sources like oil, coal, and natural gas; emerging technologies like fuel cells; and traditional alternative energy sources such as solar and wind generation. It should balance incentives for efficiency and conservation with innovative methods of new generation.

However, the United States imported an average of over 12 million barrels of oil per day in 2003 from foreign countries to meet our domestic energy needs, totaling nearly 4.5 billion barrels during all of that year. Even at last year's comparatively modest average price of $31 per barrel, that adds up to almost $140 billion spent on foreign oil.

Today, with the average price of a barrel of crude oil up another $10 from last year to about $40 and with average daily imports remaining roughly the same, America's expenditures to purchase foreign oil increased to more than $180 billion this year. This is clearly not a balanced approach to energy.

Today, we have before us, for the first time in human history, the technology to provide clean, reliable energy for every person, home, business, and vehicle in America. With this technology, we have the opportunity to end once and for all America's reliance on foreign energy sources while at the same time creating quality, highly skilled jobs for the next century in a new and expanding technological field.

This proposal returns to the American people one of the fundamental rights defining this nation: independence. Through it we can establish long-term energy independence for individual Americans, specifically, independence from foreign energy sources, independence from the current over-burdensome and inefficient energy infrastructure, and independence from environmentally destructive energy sources.

It will provide for the security of the country in both economic and military terms by eliminating our reliance on foreign energy sources.

The Energy Independence Act requires the Secretary of Energy to examine and report on the status of existing energy technology and domestic resources as well as developing energy generation and transmission technologies, focusing on their integration into an overall national energy portfolio to meet the stated goal of achieving energy self-sufficiency within 10 years.

It also requires that the plan include recommendations to Congress for targeted research and development in promising new energy generation and transmission technologies, and funding levels necessary for specific programs and research efforts necessary to implement a plan providing for the energy self-sufficiency of the United States within the next 10 years.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and make energy independence a reality for America.