[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3240 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3240

To promote energy production and security in the United States, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 10 (legislative day, July 9), 2008

Mr. Sessions (for himself, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Allard, Mr. Barrasso, and 
 Mr. Cochran) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To promote energy production and security in the United States, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Better Energy Strategy for Tomorrow 
Act of 2008'' or the ``BEST Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Air pollutant.--The term ``air pollutant'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 302 of the Clean Air Act (42 
        U.S.C. 7602).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.

SEC. 3. FEDERAL ENERGY POLICIES.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act and 
annually thereafter, the Secretary shall--
            (1) conduct an analysis of all policies of the Federal 
        Government (including mandates, subsidies, tariffs, and tax 
        policy) that encourage, or have the potential to encourage, 
        energy production in the United States; and
            (2) submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
        of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
        House of Representatives a report that contains recommendations 
        for the adjustment of the policies described in paragraph (1) 
        to reduce--
                    (A) the dependence of the United States on foreign 
                sources of energy;
                    (B) the quantity of air pollutants in the 
                environment;
                    (C) greenhouse gas emissions; and
                    (D) the cost of energy.

SEC. 4. ENERGY SECURITY STRATEGY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act and every 4 years thereafter, the President shall develop 
an energy security strategy that proposes comprehensive and long-range 
energy policies for the United States to reduce--
            (1) the dependence of the United States on foreign sources 
        of energy;
            (2) the quantity of air pollutants in the environment;
            (3) greenhouse gas emissions; and
            (4) the cost of energy.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act and every 4 years year thereafter, the President shall submit 
to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a 
report that describes the latest energy security strategy developed 
under subsection (a), including--
            (1) an estimate of the domestic and foreign energy supplies 
        needed to meet the projected energy demand of the United States 
        consistent with the strategy developed under subsection (a); 
        and
            (2) a summary of research and development efforts funded by 
        the Federal Government to achieve the strategy developed under 
        subsection (a).

SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) Comments.--In preparing each report required under sections 
3(2) and 4(b) (referred to in this section as ``each report''), the 
Secretary and the President, respectively, shall seek the comments of 
State and local agencies and the private sector to ensure, to the 
maximum extent practicable, that the views and proposals of all 
segments of the economy are taken into account in preparing each 
report.
    (b) Data and Analysis.--The Secretary and the President shall 
include in each report such data and analyses as are necessary to 
support the objectives, resource needs, and policy recommendations of 
each report.
    (c) Review.--The Secretary and the President shall enter into an 
arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences under which the 
Academy shall--
            (1) conduct a review of each report; and
            (2) submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
        of the Senate, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
        House of Representatives, and the Secretary a report that 
        describes the results of each review.
                                 <all>