[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 123 (Thursday, October 5, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H8899]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Quinn). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Alaska has outlined the 
necessity for energizing an energy policy. That is important for the 
future of our country. The lack of the current administration's 
intentions towards formulating an energy policy gives us this mandate 
now to do so in their place, so the gentleman from Alaska properly says 
Alaskan oil, ANWR, is one element of that.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. GEKAS. I yield to the gentleman from Alaska.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. I want to compliment the gentleman because he 
has introduced a bill to do just that, to take into consideration all 
of the facets of energy, to take and decide how many Btus we need for 
the future of this Nation.
  Right now that has not happened. In fact, the administration has 
closed down 34 refineries in the United States. The last refinery, 
built in 1980, was in Alaska. That is what has happened to us.
  The gentleman's bill, and I believe I am a sponsor with the 
gentleman, it says to bring to light the need for nuclear power, 
hydropower, wind power, for conservation, for gas, and for oil, and to 
put it all together in a package so that my grandchildren will have the 
ability to have Btus available to them so they can live, yes, a better 
way. I believe that is crucially important.
  Mr. GEKAS. The national goal under the energy policy which is 
embodied in the bill that we propose calls for our being energy 
independent in 10 years.
  What do we have to do? Increase by any means possible the correct and 
environmentally safe drilling on domestic properties, on domestic 
lands, on our Federal lands or wherever it is possible in the western 
part of our Nation or in Alaska, as the gentleman has outlined, and 
utilizing all the other devices we may have, our technologies, for 
solar, for hydroelectric that are our own, waiting for us to use for 
our own purposes.
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. If the gentleman will continue to yield, Mr. 
Speaker, I would like to suggest that many people are very much unaware 
of the new demand on electrical power.
  Twenty-five years ago we did not have that demand. The power being 
generated today, which we are now using mostly fossil fuels, natural 
gas, coal, no oil, but those two things, now the demand comes from that 
which we all take for granted, and that is the computer, the Internet.

  The Internet alone, just the Internet, not the total, the Internet 
alone increased the consumption of electrical power 7 percent this 
year. Seven percent of our energy now is being used by the Internet.
  Mr. GEKAS. Our bill, called the NRG bill, NRG, national resource 
governance, NRG, energy, calls for the establishment of a commission, a 
blue ribbon commission, which will put together all these various 
facets that we are talking about and balance them with conservation, 
good conservation methods, and provide for us within 10 years no longer 
to have to depend on OPEC oil or any foreign oil. That is a Declaration 
of Independence in energy that is on the horizon if only we will seize 
the opportunity.
  What worse kind of position can the United States be in than to have 
to kneel in front of the OPEC countries to beg them to produce more 
oil, beg them to send us more oil, beg them to sell us more oil?
  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. If the gentleman will yield one more moment, I 
said before that the only energy policy the administration has had is a 
set of knee pads so they can beg. The inappropriate conduct of trying 
not to allow us to produce energy, all forms of energy, in the last 8 
years, has brought us to this point.
  We have to wake up. The gentleman's bill does it. I am proud to be a 
sponsor of it. I hope everybody that is listening, and I know I am not 
supposed to say this, but all my colleagues who are listening, I hope 
they understand we had better approach this with the positive side of 
production.
  We cannot, as we listen to Al Gore, conserve our way into self-
sufficiency. That is impossible. Everybody knows it. As long as we are 
growing, and we are growing, our economy is growing, we have to have 
energy. That means all the forms of energy that we know, mankind is 
realizing today. To say no is wrong.
  By the way, if I may, gas, natural gas, $2.15 last year, $5.40 today, 
it is going to $6 because demand is so great. Many of the great fields 
that would have been drilled, should have been drilled, have been put 
off limits by this President and this Vice President.
  Let us have a policy of energy development and deliveries to our 
people so we do not have to go back. Instead of issuing knee pads to 
every American so they can beg for energy, let us have the ability to 
say, I am American and we have our own power.
  Mr. GEKAS. I ask our colleagues to cosponsor the NRG bill for self-
sufficient energy in the United States.

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