Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This bill charts an ambitious, necessary, and long-overdue new direction for energy policy in the United States.
After more than three decades, we increase the fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, a common-sense step that will save $1000 for American families at the pump, that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of taking 28 million cars off the road, and will reduce our oil consumption by half – half –of what we import from the Persian Gulf
We have made in this bill an historical commitment to home-grown biofuels by boosting the Renewable Fuels Standards. We’re enlisting America’s families and farmers to build a sustainable clean energy future, and have done so in a way that also protects our environment, like the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
To unleash the economic and environmental benefits of our rapidly growing renewable energy industries, we include a strong Renewable Electricity Portfolio Standard that will reduce greenhouse gases and save consumers money.
We also include a fully paid-for $21 billion incentive package that redirects $13 billion in antiquated subsidies to the already profitable oil industry towards clean, green technologies.
To those who are thinking about voting against this bill, I would ask: What kind of signal does that send to America? That the Congress thinks it is more important to continue yesterday’s billion dollars of subsidies and giveaways to the oil and gas industry rather than invest in clean technologies? That we should wait another thirty years before making common-sense improvements to our fuel economy standards? That we should sit idly by while our national security is increasingly undermined by our addiction to foreign oil? Is that the message you want to send to America?
Refusing to act now would be irresponsible. Moreover, failing to see the opportunities that this bill brings and the challenges we face is contrary to the can-do American spirit that has propelled our nation from the beginning. Let’s build a better tomorrow. Let’s start with this bill and new energy policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.