[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 10 (Thursday, January 18, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1845
                            ENERGY SECURITY

  (Mr. SCHIFF asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, in these opening weeks of the 110th 
Congress, the Democratic majority in the House has succeeded in passing 
a package of bills that is designed to secure America. We passed a bill 
to improve our Nation's ability to prevent another 9/11 style attack on 
our country. We have made life a little more secure for millions in the 
United States who toil at the minimum wage, and millions of young 
people who leave college with a degree and a mountain of debt. We have 
secured the ability of America's medical researchers to explore and 
exploit the life-saving potential of stem cells. We have committed this 
government to safeguarding our economic security by ending years of 
fiscal irresponsibility. And today, we have begun what may be the most 
important project of all, to ensure America's energy security by ending 
our dependence on foreign oil and developing clean, green renewable 
sources of energy.
  Ensuring our energy security will require more than just the 
protection of American oil supplies from terrorists in hostile nations. 
It will also mean we find homegrown fuel sources that reduce our 
dependence on foreign oil.
  It will mean that we pare down our energy consumption and promote 
efficiency. It will mean that we transition to renewable energy sources 
that ensure a clean, dependable energy supply for years to come.
  There are those who say that it would cost too much to shift our 
infrastructure over to new energy sources. They say that the market has 
decided that coal and oil are the cheapest energy, and that switching 
to renewable energy would harm our economy.
  This is shortsighted, false, and, ultimately, dangerous because much 
of the true cost of oil and coal don't appear on the gas pump or on our 
electric bills. Extracting coal and oil harms the environment and 
burning fossil fuels produces pollution that clogs our cities and 
greenhouse gases that warm our atmosphere. Tens of thousands of 
Americans get lung cancer and other respiratory diseases from power 
plant air pollution and this, too, is part of the true cost of 
``cheap'' energy. These expenses are paid by the American people just 
as surely as they pay their electric bills.
  But to find the true cost of a barrel of oil, we must look further, 
to a foreign policy beholden to oil and gas, and that price is too 
steep.
  Today the House passed a bill that will roll back tax breaks for oil 
and gas companies and reform the royalty relief system that has cost 
American taxpayers billions of dollars. The $13 billion dollars saved 
by this overdue reform will be placed in a strategic reserve to be 
spent on programs to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and 
alternative fuels, promote energy efficiency, and step up research on 
advanced energy technologies. Initiatives like these are the only way 
to permanently reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and this bill is a 
good first step on the road to true energy security.
  European and Asian competitors are already developing technologies 
that will reduce fuel consumption and lower emissions of greenhouse 
gases. Rather than American entrepreneurs, it is our competitors who 
are prospering from these developments. By marshaling America's great 
strengths, our inventiveness, our technological prowess, and our 
entrepreneurial spirit, we can better secure our Nation, save our 
environment, and become the world leader in this cutting-edge industry.
  We must encourage the development of flexible-fuel and hybrid 
vehicles. These vehicles can be built with today's technology and will 
enable a smooth transition from gasoline to biofuels.
  We must raise the corporate average fuel economy standards.
  We must invest in research and development of new energy 
technologies, like wind power, cheap solar cells, plug-in hybrid cars, 
and cellulosic ethanol. The new energy economy will be dominated by 
rapid innovation, and the scientific investment we make now will be 
paid back with interest by the technologies it creates.
  We must encourage employers to offer mass-transit benefits so that 
employees can commute without their cars, and support mass transit 
systems around the country.
  We must pass global warming legislation to reduce our output of 
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Many of America's most 
successful companies have realized that something must be done to 
contain global warming and they are now pushing Congress to lead.
  We know what must be done to end our dangerous addiction to oil. All 
we need now is the will to do it.
  Madam Speaker, we have lost so much time since 9/11, time that could 
have been so profitably used to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. 
But it is not too late to abruptly and constructively change course. 
The American people are ready for a clean energy economy, and the bill 
we passed today will begin to put our country on that new road to 
energy independence and a more secure future.

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