[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1630]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        CLEAN ENERGY ACT OF 2007

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I was pleased to cast my vote today for 
the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007.
  Some of us have been urging energy independence for decades. In fact, 
President Jimmy Carter had it right over three decades ago when he said 
the Arab oil embargo was the moral equivalent of war. But America lost 
sight of his compelling vision for energy independence. We need to give 
birth to a new sustainable energy age that is bold and develops 
alternative energy supplies and the infrastructure to support it.
  President Bush suddenly realized last year that we have become 
addicted to foreign oil, of course, most of it coming from the most 
undemocratic regimes in the world. But during his administration, we 
are importing 1 billion more barrels of oil from those very 
undemocratic places since he assumed office. Simply put, his rhetoric 
doesn't match reality.
  I am pleased today that we took some important steps in shifting how 
Federal resources are dedicated, taking them away from preferential 
treatment to an oil industry with record profits and little social 
conscience. Instead, we must incentivize a domestically owned energy 
industry that has record potential, a shift that America wants and we 
must take.
  While $14 billion over 10 years is nothing to ignore, it is still far 
too little, especially since more than a third of this amount, a little 
more than $5 billion, doesn't become available until the 10th year. 
According to the Government Accountability Office, this government has 
spent more than $130 billion on subsidies to the oil industry over the 
last 3\1/2\ decades. So today's step forward is the first rung of the 
ladder to energy independence.
  As this country spends billions on oil addiction, 75 percent of it 
being imported from the most undemocratic places in the world, I might 
repeat, consider an estimate by the Congressional Research Service 
which shows the recent increase in oil prices accounts for an 
additional $60 to $75 billion rise in our country's abysmal trade 
deficit.
  While the oil companies manipulate the market, they continue to rake 
in billions. During President Bush's tenure, their profits have been 
record. From 2001 until the first quarter of 2006, ExxonMobil, alone, 
made $118.2 billion. Now, in the bill today we talk about $14 billion 
over 10 years. They made $118.2 billion over the last 3 years. Shell 
has earned $82.3 billion. Shell, one company. BP has made $67.8 
billion. Our bill today had $14 billion over 10 years. Chevron Texaco 
has made $43.1 billion, and Conoco Phillips made $31.1 billion.
  We are talking $14 billion over 10 years, with $5 billion in the very 
last year. Recognizing that those companies' profits were beginning to 
infuriate the public, does it surprise you that gasoline prices just 
happened to drop 75 cents a gallon during the run-up to last year's 
election for Congress?
  As we consider this bill today, prices across our Nation, 
conveniently, are dropping. Imagine, in a place like Toledo, Ohio, they 
dropped from $2.40 a gallon to $1.75 a gallon. Isn't that strange 
during the week that we considered this bill?
  Imagine an industry earning so much in profits it can manipulate the 
world and manipulate every single person in our country. Imagine the 
jobs we could create if we were to dedicate $14 billion, not over 10 
years, but each month, rather than spending that money on oil wars in 
far-flung places, invest it in solar, in wind, in geothermal, in 
photovoltaic energy, in fuel cells and hydrogen and clean coal 
production and distribution. Imagine the jobs we could create if we had 
vision.
  These accomplishments that we seek will require not just real 
imagination, but real leadership. Hopefully this bill today offers a 
glimmer. America will, at long last, at long last, take seriously what 
President Jimmy Carter envisioned. He was right then. He remains right 
today: America must become energy independent. Our people want it. Why 
shouldn't this Congress deliver it?

                          ____________________