[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 27, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E780-E781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. SUE W. KELLY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 21, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 6) to ensure 
     jobs for our future with secure, affordable, and reliable 
     energy.

  Mrs. KELLY. Mr. Chairman, I regret that I missed last week's votes 
during House consideration of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 due to a 
death in my family. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about 
some of the important issues which came up during this debate.
  For the past several years, fluctuating and high energy prices have 
caused a severe burden on American consumers and businesses. Without a 
comprehensive energy policy in place our economic and national security 
continues to be affected. Unfortunately, the bill passed by the House 
falls short regarding some very important issues, and I wanted to take 
an opportunity to state my concerns on this matter.
  I remain opposed to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 
ANWR, and will continue to support the removal of this provision from a 
final energy bill. I have continually supported amendments, similar to 
the one offered by Mr. Markey which protects ANWR from exploration and 
development. Drilling in the Arctic would do little to address our 
country's long-term energy needs, and the cost to a critical 
environmental asset would be substantial.
  I also support the amendment offered by Reprentative Capps regarding 
MTBE contamination. As we now know, this highly-soluble additive is 
contaminating our water and posing a threat to our communities by 
leaking out of underground storage tanks and from gasoline spills and 
spreading rapidly into groundwater. The current circumstances 
demonstrate that our reliance on MTBE has resulted in harmful side-
effects. We need energy policies which promote the use of cleaner 
burning fuels that do not endanger our water supply. By phasing-out the 
use of MTBE and allowing states to pursue alternative courses to 
meeting strong clean air standards, significant strides might be made 
in our effort to create sensible, well-rounded environmental policies. 
The Town of Wappinger and the Village of Pawling, two water providers 
in my district, have filed suit against oil companies because of MTBE 
contamination of their drinking water sources. I've also heard from 
residents in the Town of Highlands, who have expressed to me their 
opposition to a proposal that would retroactively apply the product 
liability waiver to October 1, 2003. I opposed this provision when it 
was included in the energy bill considered by the House in the last 
Congress. My colleague, Mrs. Capps offered a sound amendment which 
would ensure that the oil and chemical industries remain fully liable 
in order to ensure that public health and safety are protected. Though 
the amendment unfortunately failed, I will continue to work with my 
colleagues on this provision to ensure my communities are protected.

  The time has come to reform our Corporate Average Fuel Economy, CAFE, 
standards for vehicles. As my record indicates, I have consistently 
voted in favor of amendments which will do just that. This year, my 
colleague from New York, Mr. Boehlert offered a smart amendment to 
increase the fuel economy of America's vehicles to 33 miles per gallon 
by 2015. America's cars and trucks consume over 8 million barrels of 
oil per day and are a major source of the heat-trapping pollution that 
causes global warming. We could safely achieve 33 miles per gallon and 
not only save American consumers money at the gas pumps but curb global 
warming emissions.
  The encouragement of a more domestic production of oil with 
incentives such as a streamlined permit process, promotes a greater 
refining capacity to bring more oil to market, and increases the 
gasoline supply by stopping the proliferation of expensive regional 
boutique fuels. The nation needs to reduce its dangerous dependence on 
foreign oil. Mr. Waxman's amendment advances this policy by allowing 
new domestic oil and gas exploration and development by authorizing 
expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve's capacity to 1 billion 
barrels.
  We need a clean fuels program that will help reduce smog in afflicted 
areas, primarily the eastern half of the country, which has the 
greatest smog problems. More than 150 million Americans live in areas 
where EPA has determined that ground-level ozone or smog levels are 
high enough to cause serious health problems. I continue to be a 
supporter of the Clean Smokestacks Act, which calls for significant 
emission reductions for sulfur dioxide, mercury, nitrogen oxide and 
carbon dioxide, and have made it clear to the EPA my opposition to any 
modifications to the Clean Air Act which will increase pollution.

[[Page E781]]

  Thank you for the opportunity to comment on several key provisions 
contained in the House-passed energy bill.

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