[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 22944-22951]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          A NEW ENERGY FUTURE

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I recently returned to Illinois and 
traveled across the State. It is interesting to me that there is one 
pervasive issue that you run into in every corner of my State and that 
is the cost of energy, because while I was home people were still 
reeling from high gasoline prices, and announcements were being made 
about dramatic increases in natural gas costs over the winter, which 
means record breaking home heating fuel costs. That is going to cause 
as great a hardship as the high gasoline prices on many individuals and 
families and businesses large and small. People are changing their 
spending habits and driving patterns to try to offset the high cost of 
gasoline. Consumers are now paying about $2.75 per gallon of gasoline. 
That is up over 80 cents from a year ago. Americans are now bracing for 
the record-high energy prices they will face when cooler weather 
arrives and the cold sets in.
  The Energy Information Administration recently predicted nearly a 50-
percent increase in home heating costs this winter. That is going to 
cause an extraordinary hardship on many people--those on fixed incomes, 
those on very limited incomes, and those who happen to live in old 
dwellings that do not have a lot of insulation.
  I met with families all across Illinois who are struggling with these 
high energy costs and their family budgets. They want to know what 
Congress is going to do. They know we spend a lot of time on the floor 
of the Senate talking about a lot of things. They would like to think 
that 1 hour of 1 day would be spent on one issue that really makes a 
difference in their lives, and I think if they had their choice at this 
moment in Illinois, it would be the energy issue. They want to know how 
much profit is enough for ExxonMobil and BP before the former oil 
executives now in the Bush administration are shamed into action.
  In the last 6 months, it is estimated that the top five oil companies 
in America collectively had $52 billion in profits--recordbreaking 
profits. So when you start to fill up the tank and you watch that gas 
pump go out of control in terms of the cost, the money is going 
directly to the profit margins of these oil companies. Where is the 
voice in Washington for the consumers who are paying these gasoline 
prices? Do we just shrug our shoulders and say that is what happens in 
a free market? The high profiteers step in.
  Sadly, that is the only response we have heard from this 
administration. These high prices are hurting everyone--families, 
farmers, already having a tough year in my home State, small 
businesses, municipalities, school districts. In the meantime, these 
oil and gas companies are reaping record profits. In my State of 
Illinois, consumers have already spent nearly $2.5 billion more this 
year for gasoline than last year--$2.5 billion. By the end of the year, 
that figure could more than double to over $5 billion--spending more 
than $5 billion more for gasoline this year than last year, coming 
right out of family budgets and the budgets of a lot of businesses, 
large and small.
  At the same time, in the first half of this year, the big oil 
companies--ExxonMobil, Chevron-Texaco, Conoco-
Phillips, BP, and Royal Dutch/Shell--recorded a combined $52 billion in 
profits compared to a record $39.5 billion in the first half of 2004. 
They were doing pretty well last year with the lower prices we were 
paying. Look at this year--$52 billion in profit taking. That is not 
sales. That is $52 billion in profits at a time when Americans are 
worrying about how they are going to get to work and how they are going 
to heat their homes this winter.
  Soon third-quarter earnings will be coming out. I suspect it is going 
to show the oil companies are doing quite well, thank you.
  Who is paying the price? For one, airlines. Today, three airlines in 
the United States are in bankruptcy largely because of high fuel costs. 
Second, American consumers. Consumers are paying an additional $600 to 
$1,000 a year so they can drive to work or school. Take an average 
American, someone who drives 15,000 miles a year, averages 20 miles a 
gallon. An 80-cent increase in the price of a gallon of gas this past 
year equates to an additional $600 out of pocket for that one driver 
this year, that's at today's gasoline price. Consider for a minute what 
this means to people of modest means.
  We have a pending amendment in the Chamber about raising the minimum 
wage in America. I think it has been about 8 years since we touched 
that one. What is it, $5.15 an hour. So people get up every morning, go 
to work, doing the right thing, trying to care for their families at 
$5.15 an hour, and for 8 years we have run into resistance from people 
in the Senate who say: That is plenty. That is enough. We don't need to 
guarantee any higher minimum wage.
  Think about it. I ran into a fellow in Illinois who said: I don't 
understand how a person on minimum wage filling up the tank of an old 
car trying to get back and forth to work comes ahead at all. And that 
is the reality of life for so many people who are literally going to 
work and falling behind every single day. And the high gasoline prices, 
sadly, are now part of the major problem these people face. At today's 
gas prices, total fuel costs for one vehicle is $2,000-plus each year. 
Double that for a family who needs two cars to commute to work. Fuel 
costs for that family are over $4,000.
  Think of a low-income family. At $5.15 an hour, gross take-home pay 
for the year is about $10,000. Now take out $2,000 for buying gasoline 
before you pay any income taxes or other charges against your payroll. 
Imagine, if you will, these are people in our country, vulnerable 
people who are asking if there is anybody in Washington listening. They 
are knocking on the door of the Senate, and nobody is opening the door. 
Historically, the end of the summer driving season meant there would be 
some relief from summer gas price hikes. While we witnessed a slight 
drop, consumers will see no relief from energy costs.
  Unfortunately, as I said, gasoline prices are just part of the 
problem. Heating costs are expected to be significantly higher this 
year. Nationwide, 55 percent of all households depend on natural gas as 
their primary

[[Page 22945]]

heating fuel. In the Midwest, according to the Energy Information 
Administration's most recent outlook, about 75 percent of households 
rely on natural gas to heat their homes. This winter, those households 
can expect to pay nearly 50 percent more than last year for natural 
gas. Weather forecasts suggest this coming winter may be colder than 
last year, which means even higher home heating bills. High gasoline, 
natural gas, and heating oil prices are forcing a slowdown in consumer 
spending, an increase in consumer prices, more inflation, and the 
greatest increase in the number of people who are delinquent in paying 
credit card bills since the 1970s energy crisis. These high energy 
costs are rippling through the American economy, and they are hurting a 
lot of hard-working families.
  We passed the so-called Energy bill this last August. It was signed 
by the President with great ceremony. What did that bill do? Primarily 
it funneled billions in subsidies to oil companies--to the same oil 
companies that are experiencing record profits? Why in the world aren't 
we focusing on things that can literally and really make a difference 
when it comes to America's energy future?
  Let me tell you the impact some of these energy prices are having. In 
the second quarter of 2005, this year, the American Bankers Association 
reported that the percentage of credit card bills 30 days or more past 
due reached the highest level since they began recording information 32 
years ago. People are falling further and further behind, and the ABA's 
chief economist cited high gasoline prices as a major factor.
  I can't forget the fellow I ran into back in my hometown of 
Springfield, IL, just a few days ago who said: Senator, I understand my 
credit card company is going to require me to pay 4 percent, 4 percent 
of my balance each month. Now it only requires 2 percent. I don't know 
if I can pay 4 percent.
  How in the world can that poor fellow and his family ever get ahead? 
Their debt keeps increasing as they run up the cost for gasoline for 
this fellow to get back and forth to work. There is no end in sight.
  Earlier this year, the Democrats in the Senate offered an amendment 
to the Energy bill that would have finally put America on a path to 
reducing consumption of foreign oil imports by 40 percent in the next 
20 years. Is that a good thing for America, for us to reduce our 
dependence on foreign oil? You would certainly think so. Should it be a 
partisan issue? Should Democrats and Republicans disagree on that? Why 
would they ever disagree? But they did, all but two.
  We are going to continue to support this measure on this side of the 
aisle. I hope that since that vote a few months ago, my friends on the 
other side of the aisle will take another look at it. This should be 
the underpinning of our energy policy in America, to lessen our 
dependence on foreign oil. We know America can do better than be held 
hostage to high energy bills dictated by Saudi sheiks and big oil CEOs. 
President Bush even rejected a modest 1-million-barrel-per-day oil 
saving provision that was written in the Senate Energy bill. We tried 
to at least move just ever so slightly toward conservation, energy 
efficiency. It was rejected.
  We understand the President and Vice President have close ties 
personally and in their background with the oil industry. But shouldn't 
our national priority of more energy independence have been more 
important than that? Just before the Senate recessed to work back in 
our States, I joined my colleagues in sending a letter to President 
Bush requesting him to call on his friends and allies in the oil and 
gas industry to sit down with them and make it clear that their 
profiteering at the expense of the average person in America is killing 
the American economy and causing extreme hardship to honest people 
going to work every single day. We still haven't seen the first 
indication of action from the White House.
  In August, before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, when gas prices were 
about $2.55 a gallon, I joined my colleagues, Senator Reid of Nevada 
and Senator Cantwell of Washington, in a letter to President Bush 
asking him to show Presidential leadership in reducing fuel prices, 
including profiteering and price gouging. Still no response from the 
White House.
  We proposed a set of principles on the Democratic side of the aisle. 
We believe these put America first. We believe that American consumers, 
businesses, and farmers should be better protected from multinational 
corporations reaping record profits at the expense of the average 
consumer and the average business in America.
  In the next day or so, I am going to introduce legislation to help 
address some of these issues, including a desperately needed funding 
bill for the LIHEAP program. LIHEAP is the Low Income Home Energy 
Assistance Program. We should tax the windfall profits of these huge 
oil and gas companies that are recording billions upon billions of 
dollars of profit at the expense of families and consumers across 
America. We should transfer part of this money to a LIHEAP trust fund 
so that the poorest folks across America, the most vulnerable, have a 
chance to heat their homes this winter. That is pretty basic. This fund 
would ensure that there are resources available on top of what has 
already been appropriated by Congress for families hurt by high energy 
costs. We are proposing other measures on the Democratic side to 
protect consumers as well. Senator Cantwell and 26 cosponsors have 
introduced a bill to ban gasoline price gouging and improve market 
transparency. This all fits under the basic idea of protecting 
America's consumers.
  Senators Mikulski, Pryor, Salazar, Bill Nelson, Harkin, Corzine, 
Stabenow, and Obama have introduced an amendment to the appropriations 
bill calling for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate nationwide 
gas prices that we witnessed immediately after Hurricane Katrina to see 
if there is clear evidence of profiteering.
  Senators Kerry and Reed of Rhode Island offered an amendment to add 
funds for the LIHEAP program so low-income families most affected by 
record energy prices can heat their homes this winter.
  Senator Bingaman and 14 other cosponsors proposed an amendment to the 
Energy bill that would require 10 percent of electricity generated be 
produced from renewable sources by the year 2020. This measure would 
ease the stress on natural gas and help to alleviate the high prices we 
have currently witnessed.
  Senators Schumer, Cantwell, and Lautenberg introduced a bill to 
increase national fuel efficiency which would also save energy.
  I have introduced a bill as well, the Strategic Gasoline and Fuel 
Reserve Act of 2005. We already have a Strategic Petroleum Reserve--
that can hold 700 million barrels of crude oil the President can turn 
to in times of national emergency. But when we have refining capacity 
compromised by a hurricane, crude oil is not going to be released and 
make it to the market very quickly. So I am proposing that the United 
States, like some European countries, create a strategic gasoline and 
jet fuel reserve. Let's set aside refined product, gasoline and jet 
fuel, around the United States so the President has another tool to use 
when we see these price spikes to help businesses like America's 
airlines and other businesses overcome these skyrocketing prices.
  America needs a long-term plan to diversify our energy resources. We 
have to do this to improve energy efficiency, conservation, and to 
prevent the energy giants from market manipulation and price gouging. 
It does not appear there is any cop on the beat in Washington. There is 
no one who is either threatening or punishing the profiteers who are 
raising the price of energy unconscionably. For a long time, the finger 
of blame was pointed at the OPEC cartel and the Saudi sheiks, but we 
know now that their profit increase is modest, about 46 percent over 
last year, compared to the dramatic and obscene record profit increases 
by the big oil companies of 255 percent over last year. That is where 
the money is going. It is going to the boardrooms of the largest oil 
companies in America.

[[Page 22946]]

  This administration and this Congress are mute. They definitely do 
not want to rock the boat when it comes to their friends in these big 
oil companies. Instead, the only response from the administration is a 
plea by the Secretary of Energy for a campaign to conserve energy. 
Well, that is a good thing. But should not the administration also be 
there to protect consumers and to punish profiteers in addition to 
preaching conservation?
  This is what the President said:

       We can all pitch in . . . by being better conservers of 
     energy.

  Here are some suggestions: Drive less, replace traditional light 
bulbs with more efficient light bulbs, keep your car well maintained, 
and your tires properly inflated, and seal leaky windows and doors; all 
very nice and practical suggestions. But would it not be nice if these 
practical ideas of conservation were accompanied by some effort by this 
administration to hold the oil companies responsible for profiteering 
at the expense of American consumers? Not a word.
  I strongly support conservation efforts. Changes in that way can make 
a significant difference and save Americans millions of dollars. But 
President Bush's plea for conservation is like putting a gallon of gas 
in a Hummer and expecting to drive 50 miles.
  While small conservation steps will help manage the current energy 
crisis, we need a broader policy change that includes a long-term 
commitment to expanding and diversifying energy sources. We have to 
expand the use and access to alternative fuels, create a more efficient 
transportation sector, increase the efficiency of our homes, and 
promote conservation. We need energy policies that place national 
interests before corporate interests, that put the well-being of the 
American family before energy CEOs, and make investments to strengthen 
America's energy security, instead of providing tax cuts to make 
America's wealthiest individuals and corporations even wealthier.
  This administration will not consider such measures, and in many 
cases they blatantly rejected them. Before the recent call for 
conservation, the Bush administration had done virtually nothing to 
develop long-term energy solutions and promote efficiency and 
conservation. While President Bush now calls for conservation, his own 
Department of Energy quietly helped prevent advancements on new 
building efficiency standards for insulation, standards that would have 
increased efficiency in new homes, saving billions of dollars in energy 
costs for Americans over the next few decades.
  The other thing we have to do, as a fundamental policy when it comes 
to energy in policy, is to focus on the fuel efficiency of the cars and 
trucks we drive. When we faced the oil crisis in the 1970s, we 
understood we were driving cars and trucks that were not adequately 
fuel efficient. The fleet average of fuel economy for cars and trucks 
across America was about 14 miles a gallon. So Congress knew there were 
two ways to push the automobile manufacturers toward more fuel-
efficient cars. One was if the price of gasoline went up dramatically, 
people would make the decision on their own they needed a more fuel-
efficient car, but of course that involved a lot of economic pain in 
the process. The other was to establish federally mandated standards 
for fuel efficiency for cars and trucks in America.
  So what was the response of the Big Three in Detroit when we said in 
1975 that they should double the fuel economy of cars and trucks in 
America from 14 miles a gallon to 28 miles a gallon over 10 years? They 
said as follows: It is technologically impossible; the cars and trucks 
that we build will be so unsafe you will regret the decision pushing 
for more fuel efficiency, and this will definitely drive more imports 
into America because the Japanese and others will focus on making those 
more fuel-efficient cars.
  Thank goodness Congress rejected those three arguments by the 
automobile manufacturers and in 1975 imposed the CAFE standards. As a 
result, 10 years later, the average fuel efficiency had doubled in the 
United States. All of the ominous warnings from Detroit 
notwithstanding, we as a nation did the right thing. The one wrong 
thing we did was to carve out an exemption for trucks. It turned out 
that exemption was so broadly worded that they drove the big old 
Hummers and SUVs right into it as they were exempt from the highest 
standards.
  And what happened next? America got this voracious appetite for these 
huge hunks of metal on the highway which burn up the gasoline as fast 
as the tank can be filled, and we watched the average fuel efficiency 
in 1985 go down from 28 miles a gallon to about 21 miles a gallon 
today. We have gone in the wrong direction. We are burning more 
gasoline for the same miles that we drove in 1985.
  What have we done in Congress since then to establish new CAFE 
standards for America's cars and trucks? Absolutely nothing. When I 
called for an amendment in the Energy bill debate to establish national 
CAFE fuel efficiency standards over the next 10 years, improving fuel 
efficiency by 1 mile a gallon each year for 10 years, the amendment was 
defeated, with only 28 Senators supporting it. Americans I have run 
into, and certainly people in my home State of Illinois, shake their 
head when they are told that story. They ask, what are these Senators 
thinking? Why would we not move as a national policy toward more fuel-
efficient vehicles?
  Well, the automobile dealers have realized that. They have car lots 
full of SUVs and heavy trucks that consumers are walking right by, 
saying, well, what is the fuel efficiency of that car? How many miles 
per gallon on that truck? They are asking the hard questions now 
because gasoline prices are going up. I think it is time to return to 
this debate on CAFE and to put honest fuel efficiency standards on the 
books in America, to demand that those in Detroit and others take into 
consideration the fact that we need to lessen our dependence on foreign 
oil and we need to give consumers an opportunity.
  Earlier this year my wife and I were considering buying a car. We 
wanted an American car. My wife drives it more than I do. She takes it 
on the highway so we wanted a larger car, but we did not want an SUV. 
Try to find that highway-type car made in America that is fuel 
efficient. We finally found one, the Ford Escape hybrid. We bought one. 
How many were made in the United States this year? Only 20,000. There 
is a long waiting list for people to buy these cars. Ford says they 
hope in years to come they will start producing more of them.
  Meanwhile, Japanese automobile manufacturers are making these hybrid 
cars and selling them as fast as they make them. It is a shame again 
that Detroit was asleep at the switch and they did not see this coming. 
They tend to react a little too late and, sadly, that is one of the 
reasons they face the financial difficulties they do.
  While increasing efficiency of our vehicles is no longer an option, 
it is a necessity. Consumers are demanding better fuel efficiency, and 
unfortunately American auto companies are realizing a little too late 
that they did not think ahead.
  In the past month, General Motors witnessed a 24-percent decline in 
sales over the same month last year. Ford sales were down 20 percent, 
while U.S. sales of Japanese automobiles increased 10 to 12 percent. 
Sales of hybrid vehicles soared. In the past month, Honda Civic hybrid 
sales increased 37 percent. So while the Senate does not get it when it 
comes to fuel efficiency and fuel economy of cars, consumers get it and 
they are saying with their checkbooks and credit cards they are going 
to buy the vehicles that make more sense.
  I believe American ingenuity can meet this test, can produce the cars 
and trucks we need to keep our economy moving forward with safe cars 
that are much more fuel efficient.
  We also need to invest in the production of alternative fuels and 
provide incentives for their use. We need to break the stranglehold of 
big oil, open the market to real competition, and give American 
consumers real energy choices. Ford recently announced more production 
of its dual fuel vehicles.

[[Page 22947]]

That is good news, but we know there is only a small number of vehicles 
on the road that actually use these alternative fuels. The gas-saving 
potential of these vehicles is largely wasted. We should be promoting 
the actual use of alternative fuels that can reap the benefits of new 
gas-saving technologies.
  The fact that we included language in the Energy bill to increase 
ethanol production and biodiesel is all good, but it is only a small 
part of the battle. We need to make sure that ethanol reaches the 
market and that there are cars equipped for E-85 and ethanol compliance 
so consumers can take advantage of the benefits of their homegrown 
fuel.
  America has 3 percent of the world's known oil reserves. We use 25 
percent of the world's oil. We can never, ever drill our way out of 
this challenge. There is no way we can find energy independence by 
drilling away in the pristine areas that have been protected around 
America, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It is a sad 
indictment on this administration and this Congress that instead of 
accepting the challenge of conservation and fuel efficiency, instead of 
asking for sacrifice and a dedicated commitment from the automobile 
companies as well as American consumers, we are going to run willy-
nilly into a national wildlife reserve that was created by President 
Eisenhower over 50 years ago and say the only way we can meet our needs 
is to start drilling away for oil, the environment be damned.
  The big oil companies and many of my colleagues want to open this 
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. I have been there. It would be a 
tragic mistake. Sadly, if we do it, over 20 years it will produce less 
than 1 year's worth of oil supply for the United States. This is not 
the answer to our prayers. In fact, we should be condemned for turning 
our back on this great piece of America that we are willing to exploit 
because of our own bad energy policies. Instead of destroying this 
national habitat, we should think strategically and creatively to find 
new ways to meet our future energy needs.
  America can do better, and when it comes to our energy policy it is 
clear we are missing the responsibility that Members of Congress should 
share. We need to protect America's consumers. We need to punish the 
profiteers and we need to promote, on a national scale, efficiency, 
conservation and alternative fuels. America can only do better with 
leadership and a clear energy policy and a plan. We have to look beyond 
the quarterly profits of the big oil companies and the clout they have 
on Capitol Hill and remember that we are serving the public, voters 
across America, who have to face every single day these skyrocketing 
gasoline prices and the prospects of a very cold and expensive winter.
  I believe in American creativity and innovation, and I know that 
together we can create a better future for our country.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who seeks recognition?
  The Senator from Missouri is recognized.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, it is very interesting to hear this speech 
on energy. There were a couple of things my colleague from Illinois 
said that I agree with. No. 1, energy prices are a real problem. No. 2, 
LIHEAP needs to be reviewed by the appropriate Labor-HHS appropriations 
subcommittee. No. 3, the good things we are doing in ethanol and 
biodiesel need to continue. No. 4, maybe he did not say it on the 
floor, but he and I both agree on the St. Louis Cardinals. That is 
about the extent of the things I could find on which we agree.
  Let me go through a few of them. First, all of us are paying more at 
the gasoline pump. This is having a conservation impact. People are 
driving less. Everybody is thinking about how they can take fewer 
trips. Certainly we are in our family. I believe the statistics show 
that people are conserving more. Talk about turning back your heat 
during the winter, we are one of those families--I think it is 57 
percent of the families in the United States--who heat with natural 
gas. That thermostat is not going to go down a couple of degrees; it is 
going to go down more than that. We are going to be pulling out the 
sweaters.
  There are some people who cannot do anything about it. There are 
workers who have to travel on jobs. There are small businesses that are 
trying to keep their businesses going. There are famers who have to 
keep up with those prices. This is a real concern for our economy. For 
small businesses that will be hit by increased costs of energy for 
operating their business, my colleague seems to want to add a minimum 
wage increase. When your margins are being squeezed by energy costs, 
what happens if the minimum wage goes up? Those young people, the 
people just starting out in the business, the people who might be 
getting minimum wage--and it is down around 6 percent of workers these 
days--are probably going to be the ones let go. The people who need to 
get a start in the process, who need to get a job, are the ones who are 
going to lose their jobs because the minimum wage is going to put a 
further squeeze on the profits of small businesses. To see a 
requirement that they pay a higher cost for entry-level workers is 
either going to eliminate existing jobs or certainly stifle the 
creation of new jobs.
  For those people on minimum wage, for those families, we have the 
earned-income tax credit; we have all forms of assistance and this is 
proper. We need to help those people get started because a significant 
number, an overwhelming number of those starting with the minimum wage 
get a 10-percent increase at the end of the first year. They have to 
learn to work, and that is how they get started.
  Let's go back to the problems we have with energy. We have real 
problems in energy that came about even before Katrina and Rita hit our 
refineries and hit the gulf coast. We concentrated our petroleum 
production mainly in the gulf coast region around Texas and Louisiana. 
Why? Because too many people said, No, you can't drill here. In other 
places where we have oil and gas, they are being prohibited from 
drilling. People say we can't drill for natural gas off the coast, and 
I say, Why not? We have to do so in an environmentally sound manner. We 
have to protect the environment. But siting a natural gas rig 15 miles 
out in the sea, if it is done in an environmentally sound way, is not 
threatening the way of life of people along our coast.
  The occupant of the chair and I happen to come from a State where we 
mine a lot of lead. Lead mining is environmentally difficult. Everybody 
knows the problems lead can cause, but lead is absolutely critical in 
many of the goods we produce, computers, and other things. So we 
produce much of the lead in the United States because we have 90 
percent of the lead that exists in the United States. I have told some 
of my friends who do not want to drill for natural gas in their States 
or off their shores, we in Missouri would be happy to trade you our 
lead for your natural gas. You can mine for the lead and we will be 
happy to pump the natural gas. Natural resources have to be developed 
where they are found.
  Ten years ago, we passed a bill authorizing the opening up of that 
small portion, and only a fraction of that small portion, set aside in 
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the development of natural 
resources. When ANWR was set up, there was a portion set aside 
specifically for the development of natural resources. To the west of 
there in Prudhoe Bay, they are producing oil in substantial amounts. 
The best estimates we have heard is that if we had gone ahead, if the 
President 10 years ago had not vetoed the opening up of ANWR, we would 
be getting over 900,000 barrels of oil a day from the ANWR. That is not 
going to solve all of our problems, but it is certainly a start. 
Regrettably, it is a lot more than even our farmers can produce in 
terms of ethanol and biodiesel.
  We need to pursue every area. That includes conservation. That 
includes new sources. That includes developing additional resources 
that we have in the United States. Right now, because we are busily 
engaged in a bill that primarily doesn't have anything to do

[[Page 22948]]

with energy--and I remind my colleagues this is the TTHUD 
appropriations bill. We are talking about appropriations for Treasury, 
Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development. My colleague and I are 
looking forward to having amendments on that bill and also the 
Judiciary and related agencies.
  There is a hearing going on in the Environment and Public Works 
Committee, and I would love to be there because the chairman has 
proposed a bill to fast-track permitting for refineries. It can take up 
to 20 years to get a refinery built. It is too costly. Our refinery 
capacity for petroleum products has been stretched to the limit. When 
Katrina and Rita knocked out those facilities, we found ourselves in a 
terrible shortage. We need to streamline the process, go through all 
the steps but do so in an orderly manner so we can bring more 
refineries online in an efficient and environmentally friendly way.
  Incidentally, what we need to do in that fast-track permit is to 
fast-track permitting of coal liquefaction and coal gasification. We 
are sitting on a 250-year supply of energy in the form of coal. We are 
the Saudi Arabia of coal. Coal has been a problem because, when you 
burn it as we have in the past, it produces sulfur, nitrous oxides, 
carbon, and mercury. But the coal we have in the Midwest, while it is 
high in sulfur, is high in Btu, and it can be turned into gas or turned 
into diesel fuel or aviation fuel in a way that removes almost all, if 
not all, of the pollutants.
  We need to get coal refineries putting online plants to replace the 
natural gas that is being burned in utility boilers. Wasting natural 
gas in utility boilers has come home to roost. Twenty-five years ago, I 
heard Glenn Seaborg, a Nobel Prize winner, talking about energy. He 
said there are some people who want to burn natural gas in combustion 
boilers to produce energy. He said using natural gas for that purpose 
is similar to taking your most prized piece of antique furniture and 
throwing it in the fireplace to keep you warm. That is a bad use.
  But environmental policies without considering energy impacts forced 
most of the new electric generating plants in the last decade to come 
online on natural gas. All those who are heating with natural gas are 
paying the price now. We can get a replacement for that natural gas by 
using gasified coal, but we need to do so pretty darned quick.
  We need to open up areas for the production of natural gas. One of 
the things we should remember is that the natural gas problem, the 
crisis we face, is not only brought about by constriction and 
restriction on the ability to produce the natural gas that exists off 
our coasts, in our Federal land, in the resource-producing areas set 
aside when ANWR was developed, but we are also facing a natural gas 
crisis because we have forced utility companies to burn natural gas to 
produce electricity. We need to be smarter and replace that natural gas 
with coal gas.
  We also have had hysteria over nuclear power. Nuclear power is the 
most environmentally friendly, cheapest way to produce electricity. 
Thanks to the Energy bill we passed, we are moving ahead to develop new 
nuclear power. Our nuclear power facilities are getting old. There has 
never been a death; they are the safest means of energy production we 
have. Look at France, not an area we normally cite as an example, but 
80 percent of their electricity is generated by nuclear. We need to go 
back to development of the new style, safe nuclear powerplants, and 
bring them online as quickly as we can.
  My colleague had some interesting ideas. I am not surprised the 
leadership of the other party would come forth with taxes and windfall 
profits and ideas such as that, that might sound good, unless you study 
economics. Then you wonder, when was it that we passed a law making 
profits illegal? We do have laws. We have laws against restraint of 
trade. We have laws against price fixing, that say you cannot gain a 
profit by agreeing with your competitor to fix prices. We have unfair 
competition laws on the books at the FTC, and many States do, about 
price gouging. But profits, No. 1, are taxed and, No. 2, are supposed 
to be providing the investment we make in the new facilities, for 
example to produce more oil and gas and coal, to refine it and to 
deliver it to market.
  Profiteering--I am not exactly sure at what level making a profit is 
improper or illegal. I have spent a lot of time as a lawyer on legal 
cases coming out many years ago on the windfall profits tax, and I 
found for law firms, litigating windfall profits is a multiyear 
endeavor with more funds expended on lawyers than recovered. It is not 
an easy process and not one for which I would argue.
  Also, the suggestion has been made that we ought to establish higher 
CAFE standards. We have had that debate. We have had that debate a 
number of times. If I remember correctly, a bipartisan majority got 
behind something called the Bond-Levin or the Levin-Bond amendment, 
which said we need to increase our fuel efficiency standards, but we 
should not make the same mistakes we made originally. Yes, when we 
passed CAFE standards, one of the ways the CAFE standards were met were 
car companies building lighter weight cars, 1,000 or 2,000 pounds 
lighter. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said 
between 1,600 and 2,000 people a year are killed on the highways solely 
because of the lighter cars.
  Yes, more cars are being imported, consumers are seeing more cars 
coming in from abroad, and they are demanding more fuel-efficient cars, 
such as hybrid cars, and that is good. But we passed a law mandating 
the NHTSA to increase the fuel standards as rapidly as technology will 
permit them to increase those standards without endangering the lives 
of the passengers by making lighter weight vehicles. So we do have an 
agency looking out for safety, looking out for the technical advances. 
Technology has already warranted their increasing the fuel mileage on 
light trucks and other autos.
  If you want to, I guess my colleagues on the other side could come 
out and pass a law banning hybrids, saying you cannot buy an SUV, you 
can't buy a small truck. Maybe you would have to get a permit if you 
were a farmer. That is the way they did it in the Soviet Union. You 
only got a truck if the government decided you needed a truck. I am not 
sure we want to go down that path, saying we are going to tell you what 
kind of truck you can have, and if you have a large family and want to 
be able to transport them to school, to church, to health care, to see 
other family members, the Government is going to decide how big a car 
or how big an SUV you can have. If they want to debate that I would be 
happy to do that. But as long as we are selling cars and trucks that 
consumers want, I think pushing the technology as fast as we can is a 
responsible way to get there.
  Yes, I also agree we ought to consider LIHEAP increases to help low-
income seniors. That is good. We need to push ethanol and biodiesel. 
The occupant of the chair was successful in getting the amendment 
adopted that mandated 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels be used by 
2012. All of these things are important. I believe we must get a good 
refinery bill fast-tracking refineries.
  In the meantime, as we think about all these energy problems, I hope 
my colleagues will come forward with their amendments to this bill, as 
I mentioned a long time ago, the Treasury, Transportation, Housing and 
Urban Development and Judiciary.
  Let us see if we can't get some amendments on this bill and move 
forward with that.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Martinez). The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, let me first commend my colleague from 
Missouri.
  For those who are witnessing this, it is becoming dangerously close 
to real debate on the floor of the Senate. This is history in the 
making. It almost never happens that two Senators who disagree on an 
issue will stand and argue their point of view back and forth. One of 
the reasons I wanted to run for this body was because I could

[[Page 22949]]

come over here and engage in debate. I certainly respect the Senator 
from Missouri. We have much different views on energy, and I think he 
has articulated his point of view as clearly as one could hope for with 
a moment's notice. He didn't know I was coming to the floor to talk 
about energy. He did an excellent job.
  I would like to clarify a few things. The first point is this: It was 
the wisdom of our Founding Fathers which said that every State in the 
Union would have two Senators, which means the State of Missouri has 
two Senators and the State of Illinois has two Senators. I wish the 
very best for the St. Louis Cardinals, and I am certain that the two 
Missouri Senators are rooting every moment of every day for their 
victory. But this Senator from Illinois is backing an Illinois baseball 
team known as the Chicago White Sox. They were successful in winning 
the American League pennant. I hope they go all the way in the World 
Series. Despite my boyhood roots, I am rooting for the Illinois 
baseball team. I had better say that clearly on the record or I can't 
go home.
  The second thing I say is when it comes to energy, I listened 
carefully to what the Senator from Missouri had to say. In virtually 
every instance, he suggested there were ways to find new and better and 
larger sources of energy to take care of our problem. I listened 
closely for any suggestion from him that we should have conservation 
and efficiency as part of a national energy policy. If he said it, I 
missed it.
  I think it is a critical part, because we have to understand that the 
conservation of energy means not only that we reduce the costs for 
families and businesses to provide the same level of goods and 
services, we also reduce the pollution that is a product of burning 
energy across America. It is a ``two-fer.'' If you believe we can keep 
finding new energy sources, whether it is oil in a national wildlife 
refuge up in Alaska or drilling off some of the coasts where 
Governors--both Democrats and Republicans--have said we do not accept 
that as something we want as part of our State's economy, if you keep 
looking for these new energy sources, you are ignoring the obvious. And 
the obvious is that fuel efficiency and fuel conservation should be 
part of what we do in America. We have learned that over the years. We 
haven't compromised our lifestyle while we found more fuel efficiency 
in so many different areas of our life every part of every day.
  I will concede that the Senator from Missouri did join the Senator 
from Michigan in putting together an amendment that at least mentioned 
the words ``fuel efficiency'' and ``conservation'' in the last Energy 
bill. But I have to say in all fairness that is all it did. It didn't 
put any requirement on the automobile manufacturers to make more 
efficient cars and trucks across America.
  Every time you talk about CAFE standards and fuel efficiency, we get 
a history lesson about what the Soviet Government was all about--top-
down government, mandating these policies, forcing rugged individuals 
who would like to go their own way to march in close rank and march in 
line.
  I have to say I view this a lot differently. Left to their own 
devices, the major automobile manufacturers in America made hundreds of 
thousands of cars and trucks which Americans don't want to buy. They 
are now crowding our lots with heavy trucks and SUVs, and Americans are 
walking right past them. Instead, we should have thought long ago about 
establishing standards that would give consumers a choice in America.
  Why is America coming in second when it comes to automotive 
technology? When it came to hybrids, the Japanese automobile 
manufacturers, Honda and Toyota, got the jump on the United States. Are 
they smarter than we are? I don't think so. Many of their engineers and 
research scientists went to school in the United States and went back 
to their countries to build the cars and trucks Americans wanted to 
buy. For some reason, Detroit is always a little behind the curve, and 
in this situation, it is dangerous because they are so far from 
profitability and they have such dramatic costs that they made a 
terrible calculation by sticking with these heavy vehicles as the price 
of fuel and energy went up across America. I don't think it is the 
heavy hand of Government. I think it is good public policy for us to 
move forward on a policy for CAFE standards that increases fuel 
efficiency. The argument that that means unsafe cars I don't accept. I 
happen to believe that in an era of new technologies for safety and 
otherwise, there are ways to improve the cars and trucks we drive in 
terms of safety without compromising fuel efficiency.
  There are things we can do--creative approaches already recognized by 
the scientific agencies in Washington--that could be part of cars and 
trucks in the future. They are not, and they should be. For us to move 
forward on that as a national policy is to reduce our dependence on 
foreign oil. If you believe, as I do, that is a worthy national goal, 
then conservation and fuel efficiency have to be part of it.
  The second issue which I raise, and which the Senator from Missouri 
mentioned, was a bill that could come before us soon, already having 
passed the House, that would suggest that in order to have the oil we 
need in America, in order to expand oil refinery capacity, we have to 
waive the pollution rules when it comes to air pollution and water 
pollution, and we have to waive the environmental standards refineries 
have been held to in America. The argument is, if you do not waive 
these environmental standards, we will not have enough gasoline, and 
you will have to pay more. It is a classic ``your money or your life'' 
argument, because these environmental and pollution standards are there 
for a purpose.
  I invite my colleague from Missouri and all of my friends to visit 
any classroom of any school in America and ask the following question: 
How many students in this classroom know someone who has asthma? Watch 
the hands go up. Do you know why? Because across America these lung 
problems that air pollution has some relation to are becoming epidemic. 
Visit a major hospital in St. Louis or Chicago--a children's hospital 
in particular--and ask in the emergency room what the No. 1 diagnosis 
is of children brought into their emergency room. I can virtually 
guarantee it is going to be asthma. What are we going to do? We are 
being asked to waive the air pollution standards for certain industries 
and for refineries so we can get cheaper gasoline while we breathe 
dirtier air. What a terrific bargain for America. Is that as good as it 
gets with this administration? They cannot meet the energy needs of 
America without asking us to compromise our public health, to 
compromise the safety and quality of water that we drink, to compromise 
environmental standards that have been established for years.
  This morning, a major company from Illinois--I spoke to one of their 
representatives--said several years ago under the Clinton 
administration they agreed to a reformulation of diesel fuel in 
America, a long-term project that would make diesel fuel cleaner in 
America. Do you know what diesel fuel looks like, or used to look like 
as it came with billowing smoke out of the tailpipes of cars and 
trucks? They want to move to the point where it is much cleaner. Years 
ago, we made a commitment as a nation to move to reformulating diesel 
so it is cleaner for America.
  One of the bills before the Congress today waives that reformulation 
requirement after 6 years of investment in cleaner diesel fuel and 
cleaner diesel engines. This administration says we have to abandon 
that, go back to more air pollution from diesel use in order to have 
cheaper gasoline we can buy across America. What a tradeoff, what an 
abdication of leadership. America can certainly do better than that.
  To have this administration tell us that the only answer to 
affordable energy is to compromise the public health and to put up with 
more air and water pollution is a completely unacceptable alternative. 
I wouldn't want to go to the Senator from the State of Florida, who is 
in the chair, and tell him that the Federal Government is

[[Page 22950]]

going to mandate drilling off the coast of Florida. I can tell you that 
the Governor of Florida, who happens to share the same last name as the 
President, doesn't think that is a very good idea.
  For the suggestion that may have been made here that we need to start 
moving and burning and drilling off the States that don't want oil 
drilling and gas drilling off their coasts is a major move by this 
administration.
  Again, you have to ask the basic question: Why would we do anything 
that radical from Washington to deal with energy before we even discuss 
the possibility of conservation and fuel efficiency of the cars and 
trucks we drive? I think we have to accept responsibility. It isn't 
just a question of answering every challenge in America by saying, 
party on, you know we are going to find some more energy for you, just 
keep using it up, don't pay any attention until tomorrow. I think 
America understands, and our younger people understand better, that we 
need a serious energy policy that challenges every single one of us as 
consumers not only to turn down the thermostat, but be smarter in the 
cars and trucks we buy, challenge the manufacturers in Detroit to 
produce cars and trucks that are mindful of energy needs across America 
and the increasing costs of that energy to families and our economy. We 
need a government with the leadership that is responsive to this 
national challenge.
  The last Energy bill didn't do it. The ink was hardly dry in August 
until the Members of the Senate said we had better get back and write a 
new energy bill.
  For goodness sakes, that is the greatest single condemnation of the 
substance of that bill I can think of. We all know it is true. That 
last energy bill didn't do it. In a few isolated areas, as I mentioned 
earlier, it is a good bill. But, by and large, it didn't address the 
fundamental problem facing us today and for years to come.
  The last point I will make is this: America's most serious 
competition in the world today comes from one country, China. China 
right now is mushrooming in growth. They are building new industries 
right and left. If you walk into a Wal-Mart to buy a product, you are 
walking into the largest importer of Chinese goods in America, Wal-Mart 
selling all across the United States. The obvious question is this: 
What is China doing about its energy needs? First, it is doing 
something we are not doing. It is imposing higher fuel efficiency 
standards on its cars and trucks than we do in America. The Chinese are 
thinking ahead. They understand that inefficient cars and trucks are 
not part of a bright energy future.
  The second thing they are doing is fighting us tooth and nail in 
every site around the world where energy can be purchased. They are now 
our competition for the purchase of energy. Twenty years ago, we didn't 
even think about it. They did not have an economy that used that much 
energy. They weren't producing goods and services. That world has 
changed.
  Now, as we continue to be dependent on foreign oil, we are going to 
have to continue to fight the Chinese and others for affordable fuel. 
That is the reality of global competition.
  Does it make sense for us now to take a step back and say as a 
national energy policy we ought to figure out ways to keep the American 
economy moving, businesses thriving, and jobs being created, but also 
build into that energy conservation and efficiency?
  That to me is so obvious. Every time I bring it up in a town meeting 
in Illinois, people shake their heads and say, You are honestly 
debating that in Washington; it seems so obvious. We are debating it. 
So far I have lost that debate. But as energy prices go up and people 
realize that the energy policy of this administration has failed, I 
hope we revisit this important issue.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I had not intended to extend this wonderful 
discussion because we were trying to get amendments on the Treasury, 
Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Judiciary bill. I 
invite people to come down and offer amendments. However, since my 
colleague and neighbor brought it up, I thought I might mention a few 
things.
  No. 1, while he might want to root for the White Sox in the World 
Series, I was hoping he would not neglect and disregard and disrespect 
all of our wonderful Illinois neighbors who live in the southern part 
of the State who are St. Louis Cardinal fans. It is with a heavy heart 
that I tell the people of southern Illinois that the Cardinal fans have 
been ``dissed'' by my colleague from across the river.
  I wouldn't normally do that, but since he misquoted what I said, I 
thought I might as well take the same liberties and misquote what he 
had to say.
  First, right there at the end I thought we were almost opening a new 
front in this debate. Wal-Mart bashing; oh, that is a great liberal 
sport these days, bashing Wal-Mart. I saw just the hint of Wal-Mart 
bashing. But I am sorry, I didn't mean to attribute that to my 
colleague. He walked away from it. So we are not into Wal-Mart bashing. 
But he did say I wasn't interested in conservation or energy 
efficiency. Perhaps the reason he didn't vote for the Bond-Levin or 
Levin-Bond amendments to conserve energy and assure energy efficiency 
is he didn't understand that we ordered the scientists at the National 
Highway Traffic Safety Administration to find the new technologies and 
require that fuel efficiency improvements be made as technological 
advances go forward.
  That is the whole idea.
  How about letting the scientists say what technology actually works? 
It is a lot more fun on the stump making a political speech saying we 
are going to double the mileage--and, by the way, forget about it if 
the lighter cars do kill more people. The National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration has produced those figures: the lighter cars have 
been killing more people.
  The third thing he said was we are going to waive all the 
environmental rules. We have had continually improving air quality in 
this country. We are making progress, and we are continuing to make 
progress. That is extremely important.
  Are we going to get rid of the standards? No. How about getting the 
number of processes? One refinery had 800 different permitting 
processes to go through. How many different permitting processes do you 
have to go through? We need to hold these refineries or other new 
facilities to the standards we are setting to make air cleaner. When 
government bureaucracy and lawsuits tell them how to build and how to 
operate the facilities, we get tremendous waste. This is why I am 
talking about economics. Economics is bringing about conservation, as 
is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as are other 
conservation measures--new appliances with conservation standards.
  Each one of us has the ability, in responding to the marketplace as 
to the price of energy, to make wise decisions about energy usage. The 
market does work.
  If my colleague wants to have an allocation system to tell the 
American public what kind of cars and trucks they can buy and dictate 
what cars, trucks, and SUVs can be made by auto manufacturers, let's 
have that debate. In the meantime, let us all concede that the auto 
companies may have missed the mood. They may have made mistakes. They 
are paying for those mistakes in misjudging the market. But I would 
rather have the private sector taking the hit because they are in it 
for the profit motive, and they can afford it, rather than have the 
government make those decisions which cost jobs, which cost our 
economy.
  I am hoping a Member will have an additional amendment. I will look 
for that.
  I do not intend to answer my colleague from Illinois any further 
other than to say that if he cites my position, I will probably 
disagree with his characterization of my position. But we will have 
this debate perhaps again when we have an honest to goodness Energy 
bill, maybe one that fast-tracks refineries that would get us the oil, 
diesel, aviation fuel, and the coal gas we need.

[[Page 22951]]

  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois, from the southern 
part of Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. I am from all of Illinois.
  The Presiding Officer must face the same thing in the State of 
Florida with your loyalties for sports teams. You cannot win in the 
State of Illinois. No matter where you go you will run into 
opposition--whether a Cardinals, Cubs, or White Sox fan.
  I think we have made that issue. At least my position on that issue 
is clear as we can.
  I say in closing, and I certainly invite the Senator from Missouri to 
respond, we ought to ask ourselves the basic question: If you have a 
business in America that is unsuccessful, and the business has a loss 
in one given year, we provide in our Tax Code that business can carry 
that loss forward from the year that it was experienced, so next year's 
profits can be reduced accordingly. Your tax liability is reduced 
accordingly. It is a carry-forward provision for business losses.
  It seems to me consistent to say that those corporations which have 
extraordinary profit taking--as we see with these major oil companies--
would be subject to additional taxes.
  I am sure the Senator from Missouri disagrees with me. But we have 
now seen virtually--I am trying to figure the calculation--roughly 30 
percent increase in profits for the major oil companies in the United 
States of America, over the last 6 months, over last year. Last year 
was a big year for them. Last year, in the same 6-month period, they 
had about $39 billion in profits. This was with $40-a-barrel oil. This 
year it is up 30 percent over last year's profits.
  Why? We know why. When we go to the gas station, we know why. The 
price at the pump has gone up dramatically.
  The Senator from Missouri thinks this is holy ground, that we should 
not touch that money: My goodness, these people were brave enough and 
creative enough and entrepreneurial enough to raise gasoline prices, 
and we ought to accept that as the reality of capitalism.
  But the Tax Code says even if you are profitable you pay taxes. My 
position is that if you have these windfall profits at the expense of 
our economy and families and businesses you should face a windfall 
profits tax. The money should come back to consumers. The money should 
come back to fund the LIHEAP program. The money should come back to 
create an incentive for automobile manufacturers to make fuel-efficient 
cars. I don't think that is an unreasonable position to take.
  If the oil companies know that every dollar they make in profits by 
raising the price of gasoline at the pump is subject to a 50-percent 
tax, maybe they will slow down a little bit. Maybe they will not raise 
the prices as high next time. Wouldn't that be nice if there was some 
disincentive for these prices being skyrocketed and kited on the 
average family and business? I don't think it is unreasonable. When we 
consider the alternatives we are facing in this town right now, it 
makes a lot of sense.
  We have arguments being made now that to pay for Hurricane Katrina we 
have to cut basic programs in this country for the most vulnerable 
Americans. The idea of cutting food stamps and health care for the 
poorest people in our country in order to pay for the victims of 
Hurricane Katrina strikes me as unfair to the nth degree. Why in the 
world would we help the poor people of Katrina by hurting other poor 
people in America and look the other way when it comes to the profits 
of oil companies?
  For goodness' sake, a windfall profit tax I have proposed could 
generate about $40 billion. That is a big chunk of the $60 billion we 
have heard appropriated for Hurricane Katrina.
  Is it unreasonable that these oil companies would help to pay for the 
greatest natural disaster in modern memory? At least something good 
would come of it, and we would not be cutting the programs and the 
basic policies that help the most vulnerable people in America.
  I didn't mean to try to get the last word in. I wanted to give the 
Senator from Missouri that opportunity, but because he is chairman of 
the subcommittee it means he will ultimately have the last word on this 
bill and anything else that comes before the Senate.

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