Wicker Hails Passage of Energy Bill
WICKER HAILS PASSAGE OF ENERGY BILL
By Congressman Roger F. Wicker
August 8, 2005
Congress has taken final action on landmark and long-awaited energy legislation designed to spur more domestic exploration, promote conservation, and increase efficiency. The bill's provisions chart a course toward energy independence that will boost our economy and enhance national security.
I wish I could state flatly that the bill will cause an immediate drop in gasoline prices, but no legislation can guarantee such a result. What it will do, however, is encourage more oil and gas production here at home. These incentives, combined with a boost in refining capabilities and conservation measures, will make the U.S. less vulnerable to the market forces that have pushed up gasoline prices in recent months.
REDUCING DANGEROUS DEPENDENCE
The U.S. cannot afford to continue importing nearly 60 percent of its energy supply from foreign countries. With oil prices at nearly $60 a barrel, increased global demand for energy, and an unpredictable worldwide oil market, enactment of this new energy policy is welcome news. It will reduce this dangerous dependence, which threatens our security.
The bill establishes a comprehensive approach to energy policy and reaches that ambitious goal in an environmentally-friendly manner. It encourages innovations in alternative power sources, promotes clean coal technology, and strengthens the nation's electric power transmission grid to make it less vulnerable to power blackouts. The legislation contains a provision to speed new licensing opportunities for nuclear power plants. This safe and emission-free energy source represents 20 percent of the nation's supply, yet no new plant has been licensed since 1978.
WIDE-RANGING CONSERVATION MEASURES
The bill contains wide-ranging provisions to ensure that conservation continues to be a top priority. One industry expert predicted that the bill's energy-saving measures would eliminate the need for 130 new 300 megawatt power plants by 2020. The bill has funding to increase the use of hydropower, the nation's largest renewable energy source which supplies 10 percent of our electricity needs.
Financial incentives would encourage companies to boost wind, solar, and biomass energy production, and more than $2 billion is authorized to advance development of hydrogen fuel-cell cars. The bill also funds efficiency programs to cut power usage in government buildings, schools and hospitals and establishes new standards for many new commercial and household items that will provide significant savings on monthly energy costs for consumers.
Another key conservation measure requires ethanol and other agriculture-derived fuels to be included in all gasoline sold in the U.S. by 2015. The savings could be as much as 1 billion barrels of oil over the next 10 years.
One provision that received attention in recent days extends daylight saving time for one month. Clocks will now be set forward three weeks earlier and set back one week later than the current schedule. The move is expected to save as much as 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
http://www.house.gov/wicker/Passage.htm