[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13306-13307]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 ENERGY

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, although it is morning business, I will 
talk about the energy policy we will be considering later today and for 
the rest of the week. I am delighted we are going to work on that. We 
have been working on an energy policy for some time. We worked on it 
last year and passed it in the Senate and the House. Unfortunately, the 
system we used did not produce results and did not go through the 
committees; therefore, we had problems when we got to the conference 
committee.
  This year, we are back again and more committed to complete our work 
than we were last year. We should be. When we think about life, work, 
and the economy, what is more important than energy? Whatever we are 
doing, wherever we are, whether we are driving, riding, reading, 
cooking, energy is consumed. It is certainly something we need to think 
about, how it affects our lives and what impact we can have on energy.

[[Page 13307]]

  What we are talking about is an energy policy. It is important to 
remember that. We are not talking about an issue that needs to be 
resolved, a part of the energy issue that needs to be resolved this 
week or this month. We are talking about an energy policy. As we talk 
about it, I am hopeful we can try to see a vision of where we want to 
be in the future, what is necessary to be successful in the future, and 
that we can set this policy in terms of what we need to do 10 or 15 
years from now. As we move toward that and make immediate decisions we 
can gauge whether or not these decisions are useful in achieving the 
goals we have set for ourselves. I think it is very important that we 
take a look at all the aspects of energy. We have gotten ourselves into 
a position where we have to rely about 60 percent on imports of oil 
from an area in the world that is very unsettled. So I think it is 
important that we take a look at conservation, that we look at 
alternatives, that we look at research, that we look at domestic 
production, so we can find a policy for the future.
  As you will recall, one of the first things President Bush and Vice 
President Cheney moved toward when they came into office was to set an 
energy policy, to begin to look ahead at what we need to be doing. They 
still, of course, are very involved in that.
  To achieve the kind of lifestyle we want in the 21st century, we have 
to have reliable energy and a clean environment. These two needs are 
not necessarily conflicting. We have to deal with them so they do fit 
together. They can.
  We need to modernize conservation. We obviously use more energy than 
is necessary. Sometimes we could make those changes just by our use. We 
can make changes by using different kinds of equipment.
  We need to modernize our infrastructure. Energy production has 
changed over the years, whether it is gas that is produced in the West 
and the markets are in the Midwest or in the East, where you have to 
have a way to get it there. We see more and more energy produced by 
merchant generators, ready for markets a good ways away from the 
generator, where you have to have transmission.
  We have to increase our supplies. We are going to be using more and 
more energy, of course. That includes renewables. Excluding hydro, now 
renewables only amount to about 3 percent of our total energy use. That 
is not very much. There are great opportunities to do more.
  As we do it, we need to upgrade and increase our improvements for the 
protection of the environment.
  Of course, the thing that has become much more apparent to us lately 
is the need for security. So as we talk about energy, we have to look 
at security. We have to achieve energy independence for our economy. 
Certainly we will feel much more comfortable if we are less reliant on 
importing what we use. Oil and fossil fuels produce about 85 percent of 
the energy used in the United States. As I said, if you include hydro, 
then renewables get up to about 7 percent, but it is still a relatively 
small amount. There is more we can do about that.
  We have needed a policy. I come from a State that is sort of a 
foundation for much of the energy we use, particularly fossil fuels, 
gas and coal. Wyoming is a place where there is a great deal of that. 
We are third in the Nation in coal reserves. We provide 14 percent of 
U.S. coal. We rank seventh in oil production. We have reserves as well 
for oil and gas. So we have to do some things a little differently than 
we have.
  For instance, coal is our largest resource of fossil fuel. If we are 
going to use it increasingly, as I think we should, particularly for 
the generation of electricity, then we need to continue to work to make 
it clean. We need to have clean air. We need to have clear skies. We 
can produce cleaner-burning coal or in some instances we are looking at 
ways where perhaps you take coal and produce hydrogen. That makes it a 
little easier to transport. It makes it cleaner. Those are things we 
have to look forward to, and that we can do.
  Regarding the carbon that escapes into the air, we are looking at 
ways of carbon sequestration, putting it back in the ground. We can do 
that. But we have to have more experiments; we have to have more 
research. We have to have goals as to where we are going.
  In terms of infrastructure, I mentioned if you are going to move 
electricity, you have to have transmission. I understand that often 
transmission is not what people like to have in their backyards. 
Nevertheless, it has to be there. We had a good example of the problems 
with that in California a couple of years ago, where you knew the 
demand was there, the supply was somewhere else, and you had to get it 
to the market.
  As I mentioned, our attempt last year to move into some of these 
areas did not succeed. We did not go through the process as we have 
this year. We have had hearings. We have had committees. I thank 
Senator Domenici for keeping us on the right track to do that.
  So what kind of policy? We need to have some fuel diversity. We need 
to have different kinds of fuel. We are looking at hydrogen; I suppose 
we are looking at solar; we are looking at wind power. Many of those 
are available but, frankly, they are not economical at this time. We 
have to do that. We have to strike a balance, as we move forward, with 
the environment.
  So there is much that can in fact be done. In this energy policy we 
will be considering, we have a title on coal. That is mostly to do some 
experiments on how that can be used cleaner or how it can be 
transformed. We are going to do something with Indian energy so the 
reservations can produce more energy than they have in the past.
  Some people kind of freeze up when you talk about nuclear energy. The 
fact of the matter is, in some States, 30 percent of their electricity 
currently is generated by nuclear. It is probably the cleanest fuel we 
have. We have to work on the storage of the waste from nuclear, of 
course.
  We have great opportunities to do some things with renewable energy. 
I think we need to be a little careful in setting mandates that we are 
going to be at a certain place at a certain time because that can turn 
out to be very expensive and difficult.
  Regarding fuel efficiency, we can work on that in cars or whatever, 
and make them much more efficient than we have now.
  I mentioned hydrogen. The President indicated he thinks hydrogen is 
one of our best opportunities for a movement of alternative fuels. He 
has put money in his budget for hydrogen work.
  I am very hopeful that we do commit ourselves to coming up with some 
solutions with regard to energy policy. I am a little concerned it is 
sort of on the base here and we will be moving off to other matters. I 
hope in this 2-week period this becomes our highest priority, that we 
continue to stick with it until we have accomplished the goal we set 
out to accomplish, and that is to have an energy policy for the Senate.
  Second, I hope it can be a policy, not a great number of details, but 
a view in the future as to where we are going to be, and then do the 
things that are necessary for us to get there.
  I am delighted we are going to be moving forward in this area.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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