[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 174 (Tuesday, November 25, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       H.R. 6--CONFERENCE REPORT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 25, 2003

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, while I voted for the conference report on 
the omnibus energy bill, H.R. 6, the final version of this bill is far 
from perfect. We need a comprehensive energy policy that increases our 
national security by decreasing our dependence on foreign oil and 
improving public health and the condition of our environment by 
promoting clean, renewable energy sources and energy efficiency 
technologies.
  I voted for the conference report for H.R. 6 because it: excluded 
drilling for oil and gas in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; 
mandated more than doubling the use of renewable fuels in gasoline, 
primarily ethanol, to 5 billion gallons a year by 2012; allowed the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, to establish a nationwide 
electricity reliability standard for power companies to help balance 
supply and demand in the power grid; and included H.R. 1331, 
legislation I have introduced the past three Congresses to reduce our 
country's dependence on foreign oil and reduce natural gas bills by 
extending a tax credit for production of unconventional fuels. This is 
of special interest to Kansas. Eastern Kansas has one of the nation's 
bigger reserves of coal bed methane, possibly two-thirds the size of 
the Hugoton gas field in southwest Kansas, the nation's largest.
  The ethanol provisions in the conference report are estimated to 
create an estimated $51 billion in new farm income by 2012, adding as 
much as 30 cents per bushel to the value of corn. This increase in the 
value of corn, soybeans and other feedstock will reduce the need for 
farm payments by an estimated $5.9 billion by 2012. The ethanol 
provision functions as a rural economic stimulus package by creating 
the need for $5.3 billion in new investment for renewable fuel 
production facilities in rural America, including Garnett, Kansas. The 
Renewable Fuel Standard is estimated to create 214,000 new U.S. jobs, 
mostly in rural America.
  Though I wish it did even more, the conference report does encourage 
the increased use of renewable energy sources such as wind and biomass 
through tax incentives. The conference report encourages a diversified 
portfolio for America's energy resource needs including traditional oil 
and gas, nuclear, and renewable energy like ethanol, biodiesel, wind, 
hydropower, and biomass. Over the long-term, renewable energy 
especially will be a huge asset to American agriculture and rural 
development.
  Our founding fathers made compromise one of the most important tools 
to the legislative process. Compromise is sometimes frustrating. And 
though I voted for the conference report for H.R. 6, there are several 
provisions I do not support. One of the most disconcerting is a 
provision that lets the companies that created and produced the 
gasoline additive MTBE off the hook for contaminating groundwater. Now, 
state and local taxpayers will pay cleanup costs for many contaminated 
sites. The bill nullifies lawsuits by cities, states and others filed 
on or after September 5, 2003, seeking compensation for contamination 
of groundwater by MTBE. In the same vein under this bill, taxpayers, 
rather than polluters, will pay up to $2 billion to clean up leaking 
underground storage tanks containing gasoline and other toxic chemicals 
even at sites where viable responsible parties are identifiable.
  This bill also authorizes a $1.1 billion nuclear reactor in Idaho, 
with a potential exemption from normal federal project management 
rules, to demonstrate hydrogen production technologies that are not 
projected to be cost justified. It also repeals the Public Utility 
Holding Company Act, the primary statute that protects consumers from 
market manipulation and economic concentration in the electricity 
sector.
  Our nation needs to have comprehensive energy legislation enacted 
into law. Doing so is essential to economic recovery, job creation and 
environmental protection, as we rebuild our economy while continuing to 
improve air quality. We have paid for the lack of a balanced energy 
policy with blackouts and job losses that occurred when natural gas 
prices doubled. The conference report for H.R. 6 is a good start in 
easing that pressure by ensuring that fuel diversity remains at the 
core of U.S. energy policy. As a country, we still need to have a 
meaningful dialogue to find ways to combat global warming, increase 
vehicle fuel efficiency and reduce U.S. oil consumption. Although I 
voted for this legislation, I will continue to fight to ensure 
environmental protections are not an afterthought in addressing our 
energy needs.

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