[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15290-15292]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, the United States has a long history of 
creativity and innovation when it comes to energy. But, somehow we 
cannot seem to break away from our dependency on foreign oil as the 
dominant energy source. It is clear that we must begin a new chapter 
for energy use as we begin the 21st century through new sources and new 
means of both generating and saving energy, in particular, for the 
energy security of our Nation. I am pleased that the Energy Policy Act 
of 2005 at least starts us down this path.
  The bipartisan bill passed by the Senate this week attempts to look 
broadly at our energy needs and at new technologies. Innovation has 
been the bedrock of this nation's economic growth and it will be 
essential once again in transforming the way energy is produced and 
consumed, not only in the United States but around the world.
  Fuel cell technology is just one example of this ingenuity--offering 
a clean, secure, efficient, distributed and dependable source of 
energy. I am pleased that the Lieberman-Snowe fuel cell bill is part of 
the overall bill as it should be part of our national energy strategy. 
New sources of energy and energy efficiencies can and must be developed 
and launched in the marketplace for the benefit of both our own 
national security as well as the American consumer. At the same time, 
conservation, and decreased energy consumption through greater energy 
efficiencies are also a necessity.
  I am particularly pleased that the bill contains a number of energy 
efficiency tax incentives I have championed that will benefit my state 
of Maine as well as the rest of the nation. Specifically, this bill 
provides important tax incentives for the construction of energy 
efficient commercial buildings, and renovation of old existing 
buildings--including schools and other public buildings--as well as 
residential buildings that produce a 50 percent reduction in energy 
costs to the owner or tenant--as compared to a national model code that 
was part of S. 680, Efficient Energy Through Certified Technologies and 
Electricity Reliability, or EFFECTER, Act that I have introduced with 
Senators Feinstein, McCain, and Durbin.
  The bill also contains a tax credit for new energy-efficient homes 
that save as much as 30 to 50 percent of the heating and cooling energy 
costs, as well as tax credits for efficient heating, cooling and water 
heating equipment--including air conditioners--that reduce consumer 
energy costs.
  Notably, these incentives are based on performance, not cost, in 
order to foster competition between suppliers of different technologies 
to produce products that meet the proposed target and conserve the most 
energy. And we know that competition will not only improve these 
technologies, but help make them more widely available.
  The bill also extends the section 45 tax credit for electricity 
production from renewable sources. In the JOBS bill enacted last fall, 
this credit was modified to allow categories of waste materials from 
forest-related activities--biomass, which is a critical industry in 
Maine--to qualify. This has been a boost to the struggling forest 
products industry and will take a step towards smart energy production. 
It was vital that we extended this effective tax credit.
  I believe our task is to help make it more attractive, through the 
tax code, for our U.S. manufacturers to get the most promising and 
cost-effective technologies to the U.S. and global marketplace as 
quickly as possible. Through the tax code, we can also incentives great 
energy savings though energy efficiencies. We should help increase the 
American public's awareness of the benefits to our health and our 
national

[[Page 15291]]

security of encouraging the shift away from foreign oil and toward 
domestic renewable and alternative energy sources that help curb our 
voracious thirst for fossil fuels.
  My performance-based targeted incentives included in the bill will 
reduce natural gas prices and electricity prices by cutting the demand 
for natural gas and electricity in the near term, as well as in the 
longer term. The bottom line is, we have the opportunity to raise the 
bar for our future domestic energy systems and energy efficiencies. 
Solutions do exist in the entrepreneurial spirit of the American 
people.
  I must admit to disappointment that we did not address, at the very 
least, closing the SUV CAFE Standards loophole that would have 
rectified an unacceptable inequity when it comes to obtaining greater 
fuel economy for the vehicles we choose to drive. We did not take this 
road currently less traveled towards decreasing our nation's need to 
import greater and greater amounts of foreign oil from the most 
volatile area of the globe, and at the same time, decrease polluting 
vehicle emissions that affect both the public's and the planet's 
health.
  I am also concerned that the United States is not moving ahead to 
take actions to address climate change, although, for the first time, 
the U.S. Senate passed a sense of the Senate resolution on climate 
change that officially recognizes that there is no doubt that 
greenhouse gases are irrevocably impacting our climate and that 
mandatory caps on greenhouse gas emissions are necessary.
  This truly global problem requires solutions based on cooperation and 
consensus, and I hope that, as the G8 countries, the world's economic 
leaders and largest emitters of greenhouse gases, meet this next week 
in Glenagles, Scotland, they will use the summit as a forum to reach 
agreement on practical and reasoned solutions to confront climate 
change, setting the stage to bring the developing world to the table.
  This is what the International Climate Change Taskforce, for which I 
am the Cochair, set out to do well over a year ago. This group of 
international leaders came up with a blueprint to set out a pathway to 
engage all countries in concerted action on climate change, including 
those not bound by the Kyoto Protocol.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
the ICCT ``Meeting the Climate Challenge'' Summary of Main 
Recommendations and Appendix B: Taskforce members. We should bequeath 
to all our children a world as rich in life and opportunity as the one 
we inherited. And, we need to start pursuing economically and 
environmentally sound ways to meet this challenge now.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                    Summary of Main Recommendations

       1. A long-term objective be established to prevent global 
     average temperature from rising more than 2 deg.C (3.6 deg.F) 
     above the pre-industrial level, to limit the extent and 
     magnitude of climate-change impacts.
       2. A global framework be adopted that builds on the UNFCCC 
     and the Kyoto Protocol, and enables all countries to be part 
     of concerted action on climate change at the global level in 
     the post-2012 period, on the basis of equity and common but 
     differentiated responsibilities.
       3. G8 governments establish national renewable portfolio 
     standards to generate at least 25% of electricity from 
     renewable energy sources by 2025, with higher targets needed 
     for some G8 governments.
       4. G8 governments increase their spending on research, 
     development, and demonstration of advanced technologies for 
     energy-efficient and low- and zero-carbon energy supply by 
     two-fold or more by 2010, at the same time as adopting near-
     term strategies for the large-scale deployment of existing 
     low- and no-carbon technologies.
       5. The G8 and other major economies, including from the 
     developing world, form a G8+ Climate Group to pursue 
     technology agreements and related initiatives that will lead 
     to large emissions reductions.
       6. The G8+ Climate Group agree to shift their agricultural 
     subsidies from food crops to biofuels, especially those 
     derived from cellulosic materials, while implementing 
     appropriate safeguards to ensure sustainable farming methods 
     are encouraged, culturally and ecologically sensitive land 
     preserved, and biodiversity protected.
       7. All developed countries introduce national mandatory 
     cap-and-trade systems for carbon emissions, and construct 
     them to allow for their future integration into a single 
     global market.
       8. Governments remove barriers to and increase investment 
     in renewable energy and energy efficient technologies and 
     practices through such measures as the phase-out of fossil 
     fuel subsidies and requiring Export Credit Agencies and 
     Multilateral Development Banks to adopt minimum efficiency or 
     carbon intensity standards for projects they support.
       9. Developed countries honour existing commitments to 
     provide greater financial and technical assistance to help 
     vulnerable countries adapt to climate change including the 
     commitments made at the seventh conference of the parties to 
     the UNFCCC IN 2001, and pursue the establishment of an 
     international compensation fund to support disaster 
     mitigation and preparedness.
       10. Governments committed to action on climate change raise 
     public awareness of the problem and build public support for 
     climate policies by pledging to provide substantial long-term 
     investment in effective climate communication activities.


                     Appendix B: Taskforce members

     Co-chairs
       Rt Hon. Stephen Byers MP (UK)--Stephen Byers is a Labour 
     Member of Parliament for North Tyneside and a former Cabinet 
     Minister in the Blair Government. In 1997 he was made 
     Minister of State for School Standards. In July 1998 he 
     entered the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and in 
     December 1998 he was appointed as Secretary of State for 
     Trade and Industry. He held this post until the 2001 General 
     Election after which he was made Secretary of State for 
     Transport, Local Government and the Regions. He resigned from 
     the government in May 2002.
       Senator Olympia J. Snowe (USA)--Olympia J. Snowe is a two-
     term Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Maine. Olympia 
     chairs the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship 
     Committee and is on the Senate Finance Committee; the 
     Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; and the 
     Select Committee on Intelligence. She is an active cosponsor 
     of the McCain-Leiberman Climate Stewardship Act for mandatory 
     emissions reductions and a market cap and trade system, and a 
     leader for abrupt climate change research. Olympia was a 
     member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1978 to 
     1994.
     Taskforce members
       Hon. Bob Carr MP (Australia)--Bob Carr is the Premier of 
     New South Wales. During his premiership he has introduced 
     strict greenhouse emission benchmark laws in NSW and a new 
     state Greenhouse Office. He has created 345 new national 
     parks, receiving the 1998 World Conservation Union 
     International Parks Merit Award.
       Professor John P. Holdren (USA)--Dr. John Holdren is a 
     Professor of Environmental Policy and Director of the Program 
     on Science, Technology, and Public Policy in the John F. 
     Kennedy School of Government. John also holds professorial 
     chairs at Harvard University and the University of 
     California. He received the 1999 Kaul Foundation Award in 
     Science and Environmental Policy, the 2000 Tyler Prize for 
     Environmental Achievement, and the 2001 Heinz Prize in Public 
     Policy.
       Martin Khor Kok-Peng (Malaysia)--Martin Khor is director of 
     Third World Network. He has been a Member of the Board of the 
     South Centre, and Vice Chairman of the Expert Group on the 
     Right to Development of the UN Commission on Human Rights. He 
     has conducted studies and written papers for the United 
     Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nations 
     Development Programme and United Nations Environment 
     Programme, including Intellectual Property, Biodiversity and 
     Sustainable Development (2002).
       Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet MP (France)--Nathalie Kosciusko-
     Morizet is a Member of the French National Assembly for the 
     governing party, the Union pour un Mouvement Populiare (UMP). 
     She is President of the Committee on health and environment 
     for the UMP and Executive Secretary of the Council on 
     sustainable development of the UMP. Her published books 
     include: Pourquoi une charte de I'environnement? Une charte 
     pour quoi faire? La revolution tranquille de I'ecologie 
     (2001).
       Dr. Claude Martin (Switzerland)--Dr. Claude Martin is 
     Director General of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) 
     International. As Director General of WWF International, 
     Claude has initiated new approaches, including partnerships 
     with the World Bank and business and industry groups. He is a 
     member of the China Council for International Cooperation on 
     Environment and Development (CCI-CED), a high level advisory 
     body to the Chinese Government.
       Professor Tony McMichael (Australia)--Tony McMichael is 
     Director of the National Centre for Epidemiology and 
     Population Health, at The Australian National University, 
     Canberra. Previously he had been Professor of Epidemiology at 
     the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has 
     chaired the working-group assessment of health risks for the 
     UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and is now 
     undertaking the international Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 
     project.

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       Jonathon Porritt (UK)--Jonathon Porritt is Programme 
     Director and co-founder of Forum for the Future and Chairman 
     of the UK Sustainable Development Commission. In addition he 
     is Co-Director of The Prince of Wales's Business and 
     Environment Programme, Trustee of WWF UK and Vice-President 
     of the Socialist Environment Resources Association. He was 
     formerly Director of Friends of the Earth. Jonathon received 
     a CBE in January 2000 for services to environmental 
     protection.
       Adair Turner (UK)--Adair Turner is Vice Chairman of Merrill 
     Lynch Europe. From 1995 to 1999 he was Director General of 
     the Confederation of British Industry. He is currently a 
     director of United Business Media plc, Chair of the UK Low 
     Pay Commission and Chair of the UK Pensions Commission. He is 
     also a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics 
     and a trustee of WWF UK.
       Dr Ernst Ulrich von Weizsacker (Germany)--Dr Ernst Ulrich 
     von Weizsacker is a member of the German Bundestag for the 
     Social Democratic Party (SPD). Since 2002, he has been the 
     Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment, Nature 
     Conservation and Nuclear Safety. He was Director of the 
     Institute for European Environmental Policy in Bonn, London 
     and Paris from 1984-1991, and President of the Wuppertall 
     Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy from 1991-2000.
       Professor Ni Weidou (China)--Professor Ni Weidou is 
     Director of the Clean Energy Centre at Tsinghua University. 
     As the member of the Consultant Group of State Fundamental 
     Research and Planning and the Co-chairman of Energy Group of 
     CCICED, he gives advice on state energy policies. He is in 
     close cooperation with the University Committee of 
     Environment of Harvard University and the Centre for Energy 
     and Environment Studies of Princeton University.
       Hon. Timothy E Wirth (USA)--Timothy Wirth is the President 
     of the United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund. He 
     has been a member of the US House of Representatives and US 
     Senate where he focussed on environmental issues, especially 
     global climate change and population stabilisation. He served 
     in the US Department of State as the first Undersecretary for 
     Global Affairs from 1993 to 1997.
       Cathy Zoi (Australia)--Cathy Zoi is Group Executive 
     Director of Bayard Capital, an environment and sustainable 
     energy company. She co-chairs the New South Wales (NSW) 
     Government's Sustainability Advisory Council. Previously, 
     Cathy was Assistant Director General of the NSW Environmental 
     Protection Agency, the founding CEO of the Sustainable Energy 
     Development Authority, and Chief of Staff of Environmental 
     Policy in the Clinton White House. She has been a company 
     director for a number of start-up renewable energy 
     enterprises.
     Scientific adviser to the taskforce
       Dr Rajendra K Pachauri (India)--Dr R K Pachauri supported 
     the taskforce in the capacity of Scientific Adviser.
       Dr Pachauri is Director General of The Energy and Resources 
     Institute, and chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on 
     Climate Change. His wide ranging expertise has resulted in 
     his membership of various international and national 
     committees and boards, including chairing the Committee on 
     Developing Countries from 1989 to 1990. He has also authored 
     21 books and many papers and articles.


                   Appendix C: Taskforce secretariat

       The Institute for Public Policy Research--www.ippr.org.uk--
     The Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) is the UK's 
     leading progressive think tank and was established in 1988. 
     Its role is to bridge the political divide between social 
     democratic and liberal traditions, the intellectual divide 
     between academia and the policy making establishment, and the 
     cultural divide between government and civil society. It is 
     first and foremost a research institute aiming to provide 
     innovative and credible policy solutions. Its work, the 
     questions its research poses and the methods it uses are 
     driven by the belief that a journey to a good society is one 
     that places social justice, democratic participation and 
     environmental sustainability at its core.
       Nick Pearce--Nick Pearce is Director of ippr. He was 
     previously Special Adviser to David Blunkett MP when he was 
     Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Education & 
     Employment. He has also been an adviser to the Prime 
     Minister's Social Exclusion Unit.
       Dr Tony Grayling--Tony Grayling is an Associate Director 
     and head of the Sustainability Team at ippr. Tony has 
     previously been a special adviser to the UK Minister for 
     Transport, and the environmental policy officer for the 
     Labour Party.
       Simon Retallack--Simon Retallack is a Research Fellow at 
     ippr, specialising in international climate change policy. 
     Simon is also co-director of the Climate Initiatives Fund, a 
     grant-making foundation, and was commissioning editor of The 
     Ecologist magazine.
       The Center for American Progress--
     www.americanprogress.org--The Center for American Progress 
     (CAP) is a non-partisan research and educational institute 
     dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that 
     ensures opportunity for all Americans. It believes that 
     Americans are bound together by a common commitment to these 
     values and it aspires to ensure that national policies 
     reflect these values. It works to find progressive and 
     pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international 
     problems and develop policy proposals that foster a 
     government that is ``of all the people, by all the people, 
     and for all the people.''
       John Podesta--John Podesta is the President and Chief 
     Executive Officer of the Center for American Progress. He 
     served as Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton from 
     October 1998 to January 2001 and previously was an Assistant 
     to the President then Deputy Chief of Staff. Podesta is 
     currently a Visiting Professor of Law on the faculty of the 
     Georgetown University Law Center.
       Todd Stern--Todd Stern is a Partner of Wilmer, Cutler and 
     Pickering. He served in the Clinton Administration in various 
     capacities, including Assistant to the President for Special 
     Projects and Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury. 
     Between 1997 and 1999, he served as the senior White House 
     negotiator at the Kyoto and Buenos Aires negotiations.
       Dr Ana Unruh Cohen--Ana Unruh Cohen is the associate 
     director for environmental policy at the Center for American 
     Progress. Prior to joining American Progress, she was an aide 
     to Congressman Edward J Markey (D-MA) for three years, 
     handling energy and environmental issues pending before the 
     Energy and Commerce Committee and the Resources Committee.
       Ken Gude--Ken Gude is the Director of Research on the 
     International Rights and Responsibilities Project at the 
     Center for American Progress. Prior to joining American 
     Progress, Gude was a Policy Analyst at the Center for 
     National Security Studies. He previously worked at the 
     Council on Foreign Relations.
       The Australia Institute--www.tai.org.au--The Australia 
     Institute is an independent public policy research centre 
     funded by grants from philanthropic trusts, memberships and 
     commissioned research. It was launched in 1994 to develop and 
     conduct research and policy analysis and to participate 
     forcefully in public debates. In addition, the Institute 
     undertakes research and analysis commissioned and paid for by 
     government, business, unions and community organisations. 
     Unconstrained by ideologies of the past, the purpose of the 
     Institute is to help create a vision of a more just, 
     sustainable and peaceful Australian society and to develop 
     and promote that vision in a pragmatic and effective way.
       Dr Clive Hamilton--Dr Clive Hamilton is Executive Director 
     of The Australia Institute. He has held visiting academic 
     positions at the Universities of Cambridge, Sydney and the 
     Australian National University. Previous positions include 
     Head of Research at the Federal Government's Resource 
     Assessment Commission. Dr Hamilton has published on climate 
     change policy and environmental economics, including Growth 
     Fetish.
       Alan Tate--Alan Tate has been involved in national and 
     international climate policy for more than a decade. He is 
     the recipient of Australia's most prestigious journalism 
     award--the Gold Walkey--when National Environment 
     Correspondent to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 
     Alan became a founding partner in Cambiar in 2001.
       Justin Sherrard--Justin Sherrard co-founded Cambiar with 
     Alan Tate, a Sydney-based strategy consultancy that works 
     with progressive businesses and Governments on gaining 
     competitive advantage and public support by focussing on 
     Sustainability. He has 15 years of global experience of 
     environmental issues and their solutions.

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