Expire Act of 2014 -- Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I came to the floor this afternoon to again talk about the importance of this bipartisan Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, also known as Shaheen-Portman.

This legislation makes sense for all kinds of reasons, but I want to start with the fact that energy efficiency is the cheapest, fastest way to address this country's energy needs. The cheapest energy is energy we never have to create. So if we can reduce our energy consumption, we can save money.

Not only will this legislation create jobs, reduce pollution, and make our country more energy secure, but it will also save taxpayers billions of dollars a year through energy efficiency.

I would point to a study by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy which shows in greater detail what this poster points out: This bill is going to create jobs, reduce pollution, and save taxpayers billions of dollars.

The legislation has been endorsed by over 260 businesses, organizations, environmental groups, and labor unions. It has a broad coalition of support. The legislation before us includes not just this bill as Senator Portman and I originally introduced it, but it includes 10 bipartisan amendments which provide even more jobs, even more savings, and even more reduction in pollution.

According to the study by experts at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, by 2030 our legislation has the potential to create 192,000 jobs here in America--192,000 domestic jobs--to save consumers and businesses $16 billion a year, and to reduce carbon pollution by the equivalent of taking 22 million cars off the road.

We have a poster which lays this out very directly so people can see the difference this legislation would make: By 2030, 192,000 new jobs, save consumers $16.2 billion a year, and decrease carbon pollution by the equivalent of taking 22 million cars off the road.

So those are the benefits just by embracing energy efficiency. The legislation does this without any mandates, without increasing the deficit. In fact, all of the authorizations in this bill are offset and we even see a $12 million deficit reduction, according to the Congressional Budget Office. We are going to be able to do all of this without a major government program, without increased government spending, without any mandates. The reason we are going to be able to do it is because there are opportunities that exist across all sectors of our economy to conserve energy and create good-paying, private sector jobs.

Shaheen-Portman addresses a number of opportunities to do this by reducing barriers to efficiency in the major energy-consuming sectors of the national economy. First is in the building sector. Buildings in this country consume almost 40 percent of all of our energy use. It also addresses the industrial sector that consumes more energy than any other sector in our domestic economy, and then it addresses the Federal Government.

The Federal Government is the biggest user of energy in our country. About 93 percent of that energy is used by the military. This legislation puts in place commonsense policies that deploy more efficient technologies and techniques. It has been endorsed by hundreds and hundreds of business coalitions, by environmental and efficiency groups, by labor unions, and we have seen a number of letters of support just in the last couple of weeks for this legislation. I introduced those into the Record yesterday.

One of the reasons we get the number of jobs, the amount of savings and benefits from pollution is because since we first introduced the bill last year we have added 10 bipartisan amendments that make this bill even better. Senator Portman and I have worked closely and continually with Senators from both sides of the aisle as well as stakeholders and industry advocates who want to improve the bill, and we have incorporated their bipartisan, substantive amendments into the text. Those amendments expand sections of the bill that address energy efficiency barriers in buildings, the manufacturing sector, the Federal Government, and also puts in place regulatory relief provisions to maintain the underlying principle of advancing efficiency in the private sector.

The bill enjoys even more support from groups such as the Edison Electric Institute, the Business Roundtable, the American Gas Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Painters and Allied Trades, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. It is unusual to have energy legislation that enjoys such a broad coalition of support from across many sectors.

As we heard just now on the floor, there is a difference of opinion about how to move forward on both sides of the aisle. I am hopeful we can come to an agreement, that we can agree there are amendments both sides would like to see added to the bill, so that even though we have 10 more amendments in this legislation than when we first introduced it, there could still be an opportunity, I hope, for some additional amendments to be added. That is what we are working on. I know everybody is acting in good faith to try to get that done. So I hope we can maintain the bipartisan spirit of this bill as Senator Portman and the Senate leadership and I work to see how we can come to an agreement that moves this legislation forward.

I know there are others who would like to speak, and I hope to have an opportunity throughout the afternoon to add some more reasons why I think we should support this legislation.

I ask unanimous consent that the remaining time during the quorum call be divided equally between both sides.

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