Lamont Energy Plan

Lamont Energy Plan

As Prepared for Delivery: This speech was delivered October 17th, 2006, at the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, CT.

In three weeks, the people of Connecticut will face a choice. It's a choice that's bigger than party or politics - a choice that asks you to think hard about where this country has been and where you believe it should go.

In my travels around this state, I have witnessed the struggles of middle-class families trying to make ends meet, and I have seen that look of concern on the faces of full-time workers who still can't pay their bills, of parents who wonder why their children are fighting a war without end, and of people who don't understand why no one in Washington is listening.

This is the Washington of George Bush and Joe Lieberman. It is the Washington they have defended together, the Washington they have protected together, and the Washington they believe in.

Last year, that Washington was on full display the day the energy bill was voted on in the senate. It was July 29th and it was a typical summer day in the Capitol: hazy, hot, and over-crowded with lobbyists and special interest groups writing our nation's laws.

In the middle of a summer when Connecticut families watched gas prices rise and rise; in the middle of a time when our men and women were dying in a war in Iraq; in the middle of growing evidence that global warming was at hand, and in the middle of a national consensus that we have to do more to become energy independent—in the middle of all those calls for change, our leaders let us down.

They took the easy way out under the cover of "it's a first step." That bill wasn't a first step toward energy independence or reducing greenhouse gases or helping America build the fuel efficient cars and businesses of the 21st century. It was a missed step and another bad step toward an uncertain future.

The Energy Bill emphasized increasing the supply of oil and other fossil fuel, rather than on decreasing the demand by enhancing efficiency and switching to alternative renewable sources of power.

Voting for that bill was not leadership. That's not conviction. That's not wise to make a choice like that while our country waited and hoped for someone to lead us out of an energy policy that hurts our economy, harms our environment, and weakens our national security.

That July vote was a moment that required the best of our leaders, not the worst. But when the big oil companies and George Bush and Dick Cheney said here's our energy plan—deal or no deal? Joe said deal.

They said this bill won't raise CAFÉ standards or put pressure on the auto industry to innovate and lead—deal or no deal. Joe said deal and we're watching foreign car sales rise.

They said this bill won't do anything to help our businesses innovate and use less energy so we can better compete against countries like China and India—deal or no deal. Joe said deal and we're sending hundreds of millions a day overseas to pay for our imported energy, which is consistently the single largest item in our trade deficit..

This bill won't do anything to march us toward our independence of foreign oil, but it will give more than $14 billion dollars to oil companies—deal or no deal. Joe said deal, and our oil companies are recording record profits, while our families and our businesses are paying record prices.

And they said this bill won't protect Connecticut's right to defend Long Island Sound from a 23 mile long pipe lineor the proposed Broadwater LNG transfer facility. Save the Sound will not be happy but the American Gas Association will throw you a campaign fundraiser—deal or no deal. Joe took the deal and his campaign took in more than $1,000 a week from energy PACs.

For Joe, the energy bill was a good deal. For the people of Connecticut and this country, it was a raw deal. .

Joe didn't stand up for you when your gasoline prices were rising. He didn't stand up for you when electric rates were going through the roof. He didn't stand up for new ideas and dreaming big dreams again for your businesses and your jobs. He didn't stand up for environmental protection and your Long Island Sound. But he did stand up for President Bush and Vice President Cheney and the oil companies lining the coffers of his Lieberman for Connecticut fund.

It's time for us to stand up for change and tell Joe to stand down. He's right. Eighteen years is enough.

Together we can change Washington. We can do this when we send a leader from Connecticut who won't find ways to settle at your expense, but who will work tirelessly to find solutions to the great challenges we face.

The way I look at a 21st century energy plan is like this. We don't have a choice. We don't have a choice but to change the way we light our businesses, heat our homes, and drive to work or pick up the kids from school. It's very simple actually. It is dangerous to be buying billions worth of oil from a region of the world that is mired in conflict. It is dangerous to be relying on a finite supply of oil when our competitors are out pacing us in developing new technologies for alternative fuels. And, it is dangerous to be using oil when the impact on our health and our environment is so clear.

I will not stand on the sidelines while this moment passes us by. It is calling for leadership, not for let's make a deal. And as your Senator, I will never compromise your future; I will fight for it.

Last week, I unveiled my plan for change to ensure Connecticut always comes first. Part of that plan for change includes a 21st century energy plan. My vision for energy that will stand for change, stand for American ingenuity, and it will stand for our values by strengthening our economy, our security, and protecting our planet. We will march toward complete independence from foreign oil by bringing those energy dollars back home and helping our businesses transition from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewable energy sources.

We can give our businesses true incentives to move away from fossil fuels and true incentives that help them develop new ways to heat our buildings, cool our factories and office parks. If Brazil can eliminate its oil imports by using sugar based ethanol; if Europe can develop a robust plan to eliminate its dependence on fossil fuels; if California can develop a plan; if Connecticut can partner with the rest of the Northeast—then so can this nation.

First, we can create a national Renewable Portfolio Standard that ensures that 25 percent of our energy comes from renewable sources by 2025—with tough annual milestone and accountability so we know its getting done. On the way to the overall goal, if we get to 20 percent renewable by 2020, with real tax credits that go toward the development of wind, biomass, solar and hydro technologies, we could save American electric customers $49 billion and reduce greenhouse gases by 15 percent.

Connecticut has a chance to lead in this 21st century industry if our leaders give our businesses a chance. Just look at our strong fuel cell and gas turbine industry with UTC Power in South Windsor and the hydro facilities on the Farmington River in Colebrook and other rivers. We can expand these industries, bring money back to Connecticut, create jobs, and help America grow and prosper for decades to come. That's the kind of leadership we need in Washington.

We need leaders who will stand up for businesses that want to do the right thing like become more energy efficient—not cut the big oil companies an even bigger check.

We need leaders who understand the importance and real meaning of energy diversity not like the current administration where energy diversity means a President who owned one oil company and a Vice-President who owned another.

Second, for those companies that want to buy more fuel efficient windows and doors or convert to solar power, we will help you. We can improve tax incentives for installation and replacement of more energy efficient equipment, and we can mandate that capacity markets include efficiency. It would help New England by leveling the playing field, and it would help the nation by improving national efficiency.

And third, we can also help businesses cut costs and reduce their dependence on fossil fuels by modernizing our electrical grids and promoting the use of Combined Heat and Power (CHP). By delivering electricity and meeting the heating and hot water needs of businesses and homes, we increase efficient use of energy production by up to 90 percent. [We can offer new tax credits and require the federal government to develop policies that remove old barriers to connection and pricing policies. In addition, many of the products and components to do this are already built in Connecticut.

What this kind of approach does is brings those energy dollars home. By taking these steps to make our businesses and our homes more efficient, we can cut energy costs up to 30 percent.

In Connecticut, our businesses are ready to help this country move from the 20th century into the 21st century.

This 21st century energy plan will invest in companies like Lightstat- in Barkhamsted .It is a leader in making efficient lighting controls and thermo stats that could be used to cut use up to 50 percent.

This 21st century energy plan will invest in companies like New England Energy Management in Danbury. It is a leader in lighting replacement and upgrades and they could help cut costs.

This 21st century plan will invest in companies like Trevor Electric Motor Company in Waterbury. They replace old motors with new ones. Those more efficient motors could cut electric consumption up to 25 percent.

And this 21st century plan will invest in companies like UTC Power. It is a leader in the new Combined Heating and Power industry.

Connecticut is a leader in businesses that install and manufactures energy efficient equipment. I want an energy plan that helps them—not American Gas, not Exxon, not George Bush and Dick Cheney's friend. We can do better than that and together we will.

Last week we saw more chaos erupt in this world. North Korea tested a nuclear device. The Army plans to maintain troop levels in Iraq until 2010. And the number of our men and women who were wounded in action while serving in Iraq increased by almost 800 last month.

That region is a hornet's nest. We care about it because of our ally Israel. We care about it because we care about humanity and we don't want terrorists to wander from country to country igniting bombs and killing innocent lives. And the hard truth is we care about it because 12 million barrels of foreign oil drive our cars and trucks every day.]

It is time for a 21st century plan that saves our transportation industry and saves lives by strengthening our security.

It is 2006, not 1906. It is time for a plan that increases our fuel economy, reinvests in railroads to move our goods more efficiently, and expands the production of cars that run on Hybrid technology and bio-fuels so that we don't have to fight and lose loved ones in a desert thousands of miles away.

We know what we have to do. We know that our oil addiction is a matter of life and death. We know the tough choices that lie ahead. But we can't lie down while Japan takes over our auto industry. No more deals and taking the easy way out. We have to move forward so that American ingenuity drives the global economy.

That is why my 21st century energy plan will make the American transportation industry a leader, not a follower.

We will increase CAFÉ standards to demand change in our auto industry. There is a myth out there that increasing fuel efficiency will cost jobs. What will cost jobs—more than 200,000 of them and what will make us lose nearly $3 billion—is if we let Japan build more energy efficient cars. We cannot stand for leaders who cut deals that cost us so much.

This 21st century energy plan will also expand tax credits for Hybrids and other super high mileage cars; invest in new bio-fuel sources that can be grown here in Connecticut; expand tax credits for biodiesel in trucks and cars, and we will support our allies in this hemisphere by ending the 54 cent tariff on imported sugar-based ethanol from South and Latin America.

It is time to put an end to the old way of doing things in Washington. We must put those backroom deals to rest. The future of our country and the world are at stake. This is what we can do together so that America can lead the way when it comes to the energy that will fuel this century. China and India are watching and waiting and looking for a way to lead.

Well, I don't believe in an America that follows. We showed the world that mankind could walk on the moon; that diseases could be cured, and we can show the world how we move forward in a more fuel efficient world by creating economic growth and by doing the moral and just thing—preserving and protecting this earth.

Last week, I spent time with a great American, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. No one has been more of a leader or a steward of this earth than him. He and I took a long look at Long Island Sound. We talked about how to protect it. We talked about the environmental and national security dangers that would come from the Broadwater LNG Platform, and just how harmful the Energy Bill was to Connecticut and the Nation's interests.

As your senator, I will never make a deal that puts Long Island Sound in jeopardy. I will never make a deal that lowers pollution standards so that our green Connecticut Hills turn gray. I will never cut a deal that ruins the parks we let our children play in. That's why my 21st century energy plan will always protect our environment and mitigate global warming. This earth is a gift. And no one has the right to deal it away…in the name of a "first step" bipartisanship…in the name of anything.

I believe that we can change our energy policy so that it meets the demands of the 21st century and matches our hopes and dreams for a better world that we can pass on to our children. To do this, we have to change Washington. And if history has taught us anything—it's that change doesn't come from Washington; it comes to Washington.

I entered this race not because I'm a career politician looking for a job, but because I'm a concerned citizen looking for a change. I grew up listening to lively political debates at the dinner table, and it's led me to serve my community by standing up for what I believe and fighting for a different direction when things aren't going right.

As a business owner, I know what it's like to balance a budget and provide health care for employees when the costs keep rising every day. I have seen the challenges facing our education system from a school that can't afford to provide after-hours programs for its kids. And I have looked into the eyes of a mother who has only asked why - why this war, why her son, why the same failed strategy that's taking more sons and daughters from more mothers with each passing day.

For eighteen years, we've waited for Joe Lieberman to lead, to do something about healthcare, to improve our schools, to create a real energy plan for the 21st century. For eighteen years, we've waited for Joe. He may be wrong on a lot of issues, but Joe Lieberman was right about one thing: Eighteen years in Washington is too long, and no one's proved that better than Joe.

You know, when I started this campaign, there were a lot of can'ts. You can't beat a three-term incumbent, they said. You can't, you can't, you can't. But I didn't listen, because I knew what we were doing is right.

Today I don't believe in "can'ts" anymore. And I tell my children not to believe in them either. Because when you look back in history at all the periods of great change in this country - whether it's been times of great war and depression or movements for civil rights and women's rights and worker's rights - there have always been those who've peddled in can'ts, who've defended the status quo, who've asked us to settle for what we have, instead of what we hope for.

And yet, victory always goes to those ordinary Americans who march on anyway. Who know that the time has come for change, and aren't afraid to reach for it. Who believe that we can.

I believe that we can have a 21st century energy plan that moves America in a new direction for our environment, for our economy, for our security—for the good of the world. Thank you.

http://nedlamont.com/news/1830/full-text-lamont-energy-plan