[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 124 (Thursday, September 29, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10694-S10696]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S10694]]
                                ETHANOL

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I am here for my daily speech 
on oil independence for this country. Before the assistant minority 
leader leaves the floor, as he has been such a leader in this area, and 
before this Senator launches into this series of conversations for the 
Senate about the need to have oil independence and the ways that we can 
be going about it, bringing to the Senate each day a new kind of 
technology we should be looking at--today I am going to talk about the 
expansion of ethanol--I invite the Senior Senator from Illinois, since 
he has been such a leader in this area, for any comments that the 
Senator would like to make in a colloquy before I continue with the 
series of speeches on oil independence.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Florida. He has 
identified an issue which every American family understands every time 
they go to the gasoline station.
  The cost of filling up the tank nowadays is stunning. Even the 
automobile manufacturers are starting to advertise cars with good gas 
mileage. We haven't seen that in a long time, have we? It reminds all 
Americans how dependent we are on foreign fuel and foreign sources of 
energy.
  The Senator from Florida, a leader on this issue, remembers we 
brought an amendment to the floor on the Energy bill saying we believe 
America should set as a national goal reducing our dependence on 
foreign oil by 40 percent over the next 20 years. Sadly, it was 
defeated on a partisan rollcall.
  I cannot believe this is a partisan issue. Our dependence on foreign 
energy puts us at the mercy of the Saudis and others who really do not 
lose a lot of sleep if our economy is not doing well and if our 
families suffer.
  I am glad the Senator stepped forward. He identifies ethanol. It is 
near and dear to my heart because my State produces more than any other 
State. And it is homegrown. We do not need to have a Saudi prince 
smiling at us to find a gallon of ethanol. All we need is for God to 
bless us with a little sunshine on that corn crop, and we know just 
what to do with it.
  I am glad the Senator is raising this issue. It goes back to a point 
I made in my earlier statement about public health: a stronger America 
begins at home. What the Senator from Florida is reminding us is 
whether it is public health or energy, it is time to focus the 
ingenuity, creativity, and innovation of this country into making 
America stronger at home. I am glad the Senator is leading us in that 
discussion today.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. I would like the Senator from Illinois to 
respond to the fact that Hurricane Katrina and now Hurricane Rita has 
given us another lesson of just how thin and delicate this oil supply 
and refinery pipeline is, so that the least little disruption in it--a 
hurricane or the shutting down of a refinery, in this case, five or six 
refineries that are shut down, or, Lord forbid, a terrorist act, the 
sinking by a terrorist of a supertanker in the Strait of Hormuz in the 
Persian Gulf--any one of these things could absolutely disrupt the 
world that is so thirsty for oil consumption, and could send our 
gasoline prices not shooting through $3, but could be sending it 
through $4 and $5 and $6 a gallon.

  Would the Senator comment on that?
  Mr. DURBIN. I would like to comment, through the Chair, and say to 
the Senator from Florida that because of the hurricanes we have lost 22 
percent of our refining capacity in America. So if you wonder why the 
price of gasoline is high, higher than it has been historically, that 
is one of the reasons. I might add, parenthetically, when it comes to 
the price of gasoline and oil companies, almost any excuse will do to 
raise the price of gasoline. But in this case, we know that the 
reduction of 22 percent of our refining capacity means there is less 
gasoline on hand and, therefore, prices are being pushed upwards.
  Today at a press conference, I announced a bill that I am going to 
introduce which will create a national gasoline reserve and jet fuel 
reserve. Presently, we have 700 million barrels of crude oil which are 
being held as our National Petroleum Reserve. The President started 
releasing that. But releasing crude oil does not meet the need for 
refining capacity. So the crude oil coming into this narrow funnel of 
reduced refining capacity does not solve the need.
  What I believe we should do is give to any President a tool to 
respond to shortages in gasoline in various regions that cause price 
spikes; the same thing with jet fuel. Three new airlines are in 
bankruptcy mainly because of the increase in the price of jet fuel. So 
we think we should be setting aside these resources, again, keeping 
America strong at home, so we are not watching our economy flounder and 
our families suffer because of these skyrocketing gasoline prices.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I would like the Senator from 
Illinois to comment on the fact that in America most of the oil 
consumption is in the transportation sector. In the transportation 
sector, most of the oil is consumed in our personal vehicles. So we 
could start reducing the consumption of oil in our own vehicles a 
little, have increased miles per gallon, substitute ethanol for 
gasoline, have hybrid engines, hybrid engines you plug in to give a 
full charge at night while it is in the garage. We could have ethanol 
not made just from corn, which is homegrown, but made from sugarcane, 
sugar beats, cellulose. It could be grass. We happen to have 31 million 
acres of prairie grass in this country. Cut the grass. Make cheaper 
ethanol. Therefore, for every gallon of ethanol that goes into that gas 
tank--and you can use existing engines in our personal vehicles--you 
are making a mixture of gasoline and ethanol, and that means we are 
burning that much less gasoline, which means we are burning that much 
less oil that we have to import from foreign shores.
  I would like the Senator from Illinois, who has been a leader in this 
area, to comment.
  Mr. DURBIN. Responding to the Senator from Florida, through the 
Chair, the nation of Brazil decided, years ago, they were tired of 
their vulnerability to foreign energy sources and they said: We are 
going to make a national mission of energy independence. By moving 
toward homegrown fuels and conservation, they have reduced their 
dependence on foreign oil to less than 15 percent, while the United 
States depends on foreign oil, consuming over 60 percent at the current 
time. And most of it, as the Senator said, goes into the cars and 
trucks we drive.
  The Senator raises an issue that is near and dear to my heart about 
the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks. A little walk down memory lane: 
In 1975, when the price of a barrel of oil went up from $3 to $5, to 
$12, America went into a panic and Congress said: We have to do 
something about it. The average fuel efficiency of cars and trucks in 
America was about 18 miles a gallon. So we put in a Federal Government 
mandate that the auto manufacturing companies had to have an average 
fleet fuel efficiency of 28 miles a gallon, which they had to reach 
over the next 10 years. They had to move from 18 miles a gallon to 28 
miles a gallon over the next 10 years. They screamed bloody murder. 
They said: It is technologically impossible. The cars and trucks we 
build will not be safe. And you are forcing America to buy foreign 
vehicles.
  We ignored them. We said: Do it. We believe you can. If we have to 
order you to do it, we are going to order you. We ordered them to do 
it, and in a matter of 10 years they reached the goal of an average 
fleet fuel efficiency of 28 miles per gallon. The year was 1985.
  It has been 20 years since then, and we have done nothing except 
watch the truck exemption--which we converted into SUVs--create this 
new breed of heavy, fuel-inefficient vehicle such as this god-awful 
Hummer. If you want to drive a Hummer, for goodness sakes, join the 
Army.
  In this situation, these fuel-inefficient vehicles have dominated our 
market, and our average fuel efficiency in America has gone from 28 
miles a gallon in 1985 to less than 22 miles a gallon today. We are 
importing more and more oil to drive the miles we need.
  So I offered an amendment on the floor--and the Senator from Florida, 
I am sure, remembers it--and said: Is it too much to ask the auto 
manufacturers to increase the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks in 
America by 1 mile a gallon each year for the next 10 years so we can 
get to 32 miles a gallon?
  The Senator knows what happened. We had resistance not only from the

[[Page S10695]]

automobile companies but their workers. Do you know what they said? 
They said: It is technologically impossible. The cars and trucks you 
want us to build will not be safe. And you are going to force foreign 
manufacturers on American consumers. They will not have any place to 
go. It is the same story we heard 30 years ago. The amendment was 
defeated.
  But today I think if we called it up for reconsideration there would 
be a few more votes. People are understanding you cannot control your 
fate and you cannot control your pocketbook if you are spending $100 
every time you drive into the service station to fill the tank of that 
SUV. So I think folks are more sensitive to it.
  I have written to the big three manufacturers, to their CEOs, and 
said: Listen, it is time to sit down and get serious. The American 
consumers want a more fuel-efficient vehicle. You know you can do it. 
How can we work together to achieve it?
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, just exactly what the Senator 
from Illinois says, there is a waiting list a mile long to get the 
hybrid vehicles that, in the case of Toyota, get 50 miles to a gallon 
in city driving. Yet what do we have to do to get the rest of the 
automobile manufacturers?
  Maybe it is going to take Hurricane Katrina, with a scare of a 
shortage, with the shutting down of refineries, that is going to 
finally get our collective heads out of the sand and face the fact we 
are so dependent on oil--and foreign oil--and that this is not a good 
position for this country to be in.
  Does the Senator from Illinois remember when we offered a simple 
little amendment, and it was only to increase miles per gallon on SUVs, 
phased in over a multiyear period, and we could not get anymore than 
about 39 votes out of 100 Senators in this Chamber? Yet we are facing 
the crisis we are today.
  Mr. DURBIN. I would say, in response to the Senator from Florida, 
through the Chair, I think America understands what this means. Our 
vulnerability, our dependence on foreign oil, means we are drawn into 
wars and foreign policy decisions which we may not want to make. It 
also means our economy is burdened by inefficiency and vehicles that 
are really burning too much gasoline. It also means that for every 
extra gallon we burn, there is more pollution in the air. So it is from 
three different perspectives.
  Our lack of fuel efficiency in our vehicles is burdening America with 
responsibilities and decisions which American consumers would agree and 
American families would agree we should not have to make as a nation.
  Now, I know I voted for the Energy bill--I do not know how the 
Senator from Florida did--because it contained provisions about ethanol 
and biodiesel. But if you look beyond those provisions, you will find 
in that bill many subsidies for oil companies. What an irony that we 
provide subsidies to oil companies at a time when they are experiencing 
the highest profits, windfall profits, they have ever seen--billions of 
dollars. And do you know why? Because the price of gasoline is much 
higher than is warranted by the price of crude oil. So that Energy bill 
we had the President sign last August really does not step up to the 
plate and address the reality of the energy challenge of America.
  I believe Americans want us to move toward energy independence, to 
move toward using fuels that are efficient and do not pollute. And I 
believe they want us, as a nation, to create incentives for renewable, 
sustainable energy sources, for innovation in energy technology that 
will create new companies, new jobs, new opportunities in this country.
  We cannot be looking backward. We have to look forward in terms of 
what our children need for energy in the 21st century.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, this Senator would say that it 
is only going to get worse if we do not do something now. This Senator 
thinks we are approaching a crisis because China is now on the scene, 
and China is becoming a huge consumer of oil. They are second only to 
the United States in the consumption of oil. They have had 40-percent 
growth in their demand on the world's oil supply. China's purchases of 
new passenger cars has risen by 75 percent.
  In a tight world oil market, with new demands put on the supply by 
emerging nations such as China, it is only going to get worse. And here 
we are, the United States of America, importing 58 to 60 percent of our 
daily consumption of oil from foreign shores. It is an accident waiting 
to happen.
  What does it take to collectively shake the American people to the 
point that the body politic will demand of their elected 
representatives that we start making changes--synthetic fuels, 
alternative fuels, higher miles per gallon, alternatives such as 
ethanol, hybrid vehicles, encouraging them, satisfying the demand? The 
waiting list is a long list. What is it going to take?
  Will the Senator give me any kind of reflection?
  Mr. DURBIN. I would like to respond to the Senator from Florida 
through the Chair and say that Hurricane Katrina, those catastrophic 
winds that blew down the coast of Mississippi and Alabama caused a 
great deal of suffering. People still suffer today from the 
consequences.
  Maybe, in that terrible natural disaster and tragedy, something good 
will come of it. If those winds blow down the doors of indifference 
when it comes to some basic issues in America, then we can build, as a 
country, from that sad experience--whether it is caring for the most 
vulnerable in America, who were the ones who suffered; whether it is 
standing together as a nation, saying we are part of an American 
family, and if that tragedy hits your State of Florida or my State of 
Illinois, we will stand together to make sure your State gets back up 
on its feet; or whether it is looking at our dependence on foreign 
energy and saying: We have to change. This struck a part of America 
from which energy comes and is refined. We have to change in terms of 
our policy.
  So I would say to the Senator from Florida, maybe that great 
disaster, that terrible suffering that came from it, will also bring 
with it a new awakening in this country about a new direction we need, 
a direction that moves our Nation together, unified as a community, to 
solve the serious challenge we face today.
  It was not too long ago, I say to the Senator from Florida, we would 
sit on the floor and argue about the ``ownership society.'' Remember 
that? Privatizing Social Security: We don't need Social Security. Just 
let me have my own private account. Well, you heard that a lot. And the 
model of the ownership society group was: Just remember, we are all in 
this alone.
  Well, we learned better. We learned with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita 
and other challenges, the only chance we have is when we are all in 
this together. And together as a nation we have done amazing things.
  I think the life of the Senator from Florida tells that story. Most 
people don't know--but I sure do--you served in the House of 
Representatives. You were an elected statewide official in Florida and 
managed to squeeze into that public service career a trip in space as 
an astronaut. And I know you then came to the Senate with dedication 
even greater to this country.
  Together, Florida is strong, Illinois is strong. We are strong as a 
nation.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. As we close this out--under the previous 
order, at 4 o'clock we will be in other business--I will continue my 
drumbeat on a daily basis about the need for energy independence. I 
know what our people in Florida believe. They feel very strongly about 
it. Before I engaged in the colloquy with the Senator from Illinois, I 
had intended to talk about some specifics of the use of ethanol and the 
manufacture of ethanol and how that could help us ween ourselves from 
dependence on foreign oil. I shall pick that up on another day, but I 
will continue this daily, trying to sound the alarm for this country 
that if we don't do something, we will rue the day that we did not.
  I am told that we might have a couple of more minutes here. I will go 
ahead and close out some of my comments. As the Senator from Illinois 
and I discussed in our colloquy, it is true that transportation is 
where we are consuming most of our oil. If you want to do something 
about lessening your dependence on foreign oil, go to the place where 
we consume most of it. That is in our personal vehicles. One thing that 
we have to do is pursue alternative fuels to petroleum. Gasoline

[[Page S10696]]

and diesel, petroleum products, accounted for over 98 percent of 
transportation motor fuels sold in the year 2004. Only 2 percent are 
from alternatives to petroleum. We need to increase that 2 percent, and 
it can come from many different sources of alternatives to petroleum, 
such as ethanol.
  As the Senator from Illinois and I discussed, corn is clearly a basis 
for ethanol. But with the advance of technology, there are many other 
sources as well. Cellulose and glucose are two. Glucose, sugar, we 
raise a lot of sugarcane in Florida. They do in Louisiana. We raise a 
lot of sugar beets throughout the Midwest and the West. That is a 
source of ethanol. It was one of the things that I pushed for, at the 
time of the discussion of CAFTA, to get the administration, through the 
Department of Agriculture, to start the study on making ethanol from 
sugarcane. I will pick up in the future with a discussion of ethanol 
made from sources other than corn, as I bring to the attention of the 
Senate how much this is getting to be an emergency situation that we 
are depending on oil. And of that oil, almost 60 percent of it comes 
from foreign shores. That is not good for this country. We have to 
change that.
  I yield the floor.

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