[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19194]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




COMPREHENSIVE ENERGY PACKAGE WILL INVEST IN RENEWABLE ENERGY AND CREATE 
                                  JOBS

  (Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, very shortly this Congress, 
this Democratic Congress, is going to do what the Republicans failed to 
do for more than a decade of their leadership, and that is to present 
and vote on a comprehensive energy package that will expand renewable 
sources of energy for the future and create good-paying jobs here in 
America.
  This plan for the 21st century extends tax incentives for renewable 
energy, hybrid cars, energy-efficient buildings and homes. It requires 
utility companies to generate 15 percent of their electricity from 
renewable sources such as wind, geothermal and solar power.
  This is our new energy future. And the legislation forces oil 
companies to pay their fair share for drilling on the American people's 
land. Big Oil should pay taxpayers to use their land. We will use that 
money, $15 billion, to develop clean energy sources and alternative 
fuels, to develop greater efficiency and improve conservation.
  Investments in renewable energy will create hundreds of thousands of 
good-paying jobs here in America, at a time when the Bush economy is 
shedding tens of thousands of jobs every month.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a comprehensive energy plan. It is a Democratic 
plan that the American people have been waiting for for the future. 
Republicans just don't get it. This plan is about the future and not 
about the past.

                          ____________________