The Senate is expected to begin debate during the week of June 13 on comprehensive energy legislation. The Senate has an opportunity to adopt energy policies for the 21st century that rely on existing innovative efficiency technologies and home grown renewable power to chart a new, clean energy path while enhancing national security.
There is a growing consensus across the political spectrum that we must travel a different energy path. The Christian Science Monitor recently found that:
"Outside official Washington... energy-independence plans are popping up across the American political landscape. Liberals and conservatives, ecologists and former military brass have reached the same conclusion: The United States needs a radical change in energy policy. The way to do it, they agree, is through a mix of conservation and new-but-available technology that could quickly begin to reduce US reliance on some of the most volatile regions of the world." (May 5, 2005)
America deserves a safe, clean, affordable energy future. A forward-looking, responsible energy bill satisfies four basic principles, all of which can be achieved with technologies available today.
It would:
- Promote clean, renewable energy sources and energy efficiency technologies to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and address global warming;
- Protect consumers and taxpayers by eliminating subsidies for the polluting oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries and strengthening consumer protection laws;
- Enhance our energy and national security by reducing our dependence on oil;
- Safeguard America's natural resource heritage by protecting special places and sensitive public lands in the West and fragile coastal ecosystems.
The pending legislation does next to nothing to advance these principles. Instead, it includes the following provisions that would increase our reliance on oil and widen the federal budget deficit.
The bill would:
- increase our dependency on foreign oil by widening loopholes in existing fuel economy rules;
- limit the rights of states and local citizens to participate in decisions related to the location of liquefied natural gas and other energy facilities and the content of hydropower dam licenses;
- waste taxpayer dollars to subsidize nuclear power, oil and other big energy companies;
- put electricity consumers at risk by repealing the Public Utility Holding Company Act;
- open the door to oil drilling in the Western Arctic Alaska and offshore without setting aside key wildlife areas for protection and conducting a seismic inventory of oil and gas off the Florida, North Carolina and other coasts that could harm fish, waterfowl and other marine inhabitants.
The Senate intends to spend up to two weeks debating the energy bill. We are calling upon the Senate to make wise use of that time and adopt a range of amendments designed to move closer to the principles outlined above.
At a time when consumers are paying high prices for oil and natural gas, and our country is increasing its dependence on oil imports from the most unstable regions in the world, the United States needs bold leadership from the Senate by adopting 21st century clean energy policies.
The previous Congress produced a monstrous piece of energy legislation that was panned by a broad spectrum, including the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The final bill was strongly opposed by environmental groups, taxpayers' organizations, unions, religious groups and consumer groups. This year, we are urging the Senate to pass a bill that rejects this old failed approach and starts this country on the path towards a true 21st century energy policy.
Below are fact sheets on specific issues related to the energy bill.
