The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“ENERGY” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the Senate section on pages S3732-S3735 on March 26, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
ENERGY
Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor to speak about the issue of energy and the importance of this Senate and this Congress and this country moving forward with an authentic picture with respect to energy independence for our country. When I get up in the morning and think about the major issues that are facing our country, there are three issues which always come to mind.
The first is what is happening in Iraq and around the world and how we restore America's greatness and how we put Humpty Dumpty together again with respect to making sure America's greatness which we have enjoyed for the last two centuries is something we enjoy in the 21st century and beyond.
Second are the difficult and important domestic issues which we are attempting to confront today--the issue of health care and how we move forward to create a system of health insurance and health care availability for all the people of America, an issue which continues to confront us.
Third, the issue of energy and how we look forward. The issue of energy is something many of us in this Chamber and in the House of Representatives and the White House today will continue to work on, which is so important to all of us.
With respect to Iraq, we will be facing that issue here in the weeks and months ahead. I believe strongly there is unity in the United States of America in terms of our support for our troops. I believe there is a long-term desire for us to make sure what we do is establish stability in the Middle East.
I believe all of us want to make sure we are doing everything we can do to support our troops. Nonetheless, the debate will occur here on this floor this week and beyond. It is an important debate. It is a debate that involves perhaps the most important issue of our time. That is the issue of war and peace and the debate that is certainly appropriate to be held on the floor of the Senate.
With respect to health care, I am pleased with the efforts the Senate Finance Committee and the HELP Committee are undertaking, with the leadership of Senator Baucus and Senator Kennedy and others, as we try to address the issue of health care. This year for sure we will move forward with a program that hopefully will expand the coverage of health insurance to the children of America. We think about 9 million children in this country today who have no health insurance. The expansion of the SCHIP program is something that is very important for all of these children across our many States who today do not have health insurance.
But the other issue, the energy issue, is one which is winding its way through our various committees in the Senate today. In the Agriculture Committee, under the leadership of Senator Tom Harkin, we currently are looking at title 9 of the farm bill. We will have a robust law that will move us forward with a new agenda with respect to agriculture and energy.
In the Senate Energy Committee, under the leadership of Senators Bingaman and Domenici, we are working on several bills that will help us move forward toward energy independence.
In the Senate Finance Committee, under the leadership of Senator Baucus and Senator Grassley, we have numerous initiatives on the table that will create incentives for us to have the kind of biofuels, solar energy, and the other kinds of energy that will create the new environment for us to be successful in a program on energy independence.
For me, when I think about energy, I see the dawning of a new age for my State of Colorado and also for America. It is a dawning of an age for America which we ought to embrace with vigor. It is the dawning of the age of a clean energy future for the United States of America. One year ago in my State I hosted the first Colorado Renewable Energy Summit. At the summit, there were more than 500 of us brought together to talk about our national energy policy and the energy opportunities we face in my State.
We put renewable energy in the headlines for Colorado, and we have kept energy at the top of Colorado's agenda for the past year. This last Saturday, 2 days ago, on March 24, 2007, we again summoned the people of Colorado and we had over 1,000 people who attended a summit at the Colorado Convention Center. We were joined in that summit by my colleague Senator Wayne Allard, by Colorado Governor Ritter, the mayor, six Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the president of the Colorado Senate, the speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives and, as I said, more than 1,000 people in my State who were interested in renewable energy and energy efficiency, not only for our State but for the entire country.
Because of the work we have taken on in the last year in Colorado, today we have a Colorado Renewable Energy collaboration. That laboratory is an incredible association with the National Renewable Energy Lab, the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, and the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Even though the ink is not yet dry on the formation of the collaboration, these four great research institutions have already launched a world-class research program. It is called the Colorado Center for Bioresearch and Biofuels.
Colorado's private sector is moving forward, too, on a variety of different fronts. First, with respect to wind, Colorado has added over 60 megawatts of wind generation in the last 4 years. But consider what is on the agenda for 2007. In 2007, my State of Colorado will add another 775 megawatts. That is more than tripling the State's production of wind generation. That is an equivalent of the generation we get from approximately two full-fledged powerplants.
Beyond wind, we have embraced solar. Since the passage of a citizens' initiative in Colorado 2 years ago, Colorado's solar industries have seen a growth of 40 percent every year. The State's first commercial solar electricity project will be constructed in my native San Luis Valley in 2007. We moved from wind to solar to biodiesel. In 2004, there was no biodiesel produced in the State of Colorado. Today we have three plants in my State that are producing more than 30 million gallons a year, and a fourth plant is ready to start operations in the production of biodiesel.
We go beyond biodiesel to ethanol. Two years ago we had no ethanol plants in the State of Colorado. Today we have three ethanol plants that are producing 90 million gallons of ethanol, and we have a fourth plant that will come on line in 2007, adding 50 million more gallons per year, and several other plants that are in the planning stages.
That is not all. In my State of Colorado, we have moved forward with wind energy companies, with solar, photovoltaic designers, and manufacturers who are opening facilities in places such as Larimer County. Cellulosic ethanol companies, which are engaged in research and development, inform us within 2 years they will be at a point where cellulosic ethanol will be available in the commercial markets.
We have hybrid vehicle manufacturers who are doing the technology development and research in my State, hybrid and plug-in vehicle battery manufacturers, engine efficiency research companies, such as German manufacturers in El Paso County and Colorado Springs.
There is a whole lot more that is happening with respect to clean renewable energy in my State of Colorado. We have a long road ahead of us, but we have found our stride and we know the destination. We want America to be the world's center for renewable energy research, for development and for production. I want my State to play a significant role as we embrace that agenda.
Let's be clear about what is happening with respect to energy in the United States of America. Some of us need to remind ourselves it was not so long ago when President Nixon and then President Carter later on said we needed to embrace a new ethic of energy independence. This was in the 1970s, some 35, 40, 45 years ago when we were talking about the importance of energy independence, frankly, because of the economics that were driving it at the time. There was great concern with respect to the formation of OPEC and with respect to the volatility of markets that could disrupt the American economy.
We see what happened in response to the leadership in the 1970s where there were great investments made in technologies that would look at alternative fuels that would power our homes and cars in this country. But the driver of economics went away when the price of oil dropped to around $20, $21, $22, $23 per barrel. Over this last year, we saw the price of oil get up to $60 and $70 per barrel, and we saw the price of a gallon come up to $3 a gallon, in some places more than $3.50, $3.60 a gallon, the price of diesel following the same path. It became apparent at the time the economic driver was not the only significant driver here.
Mr. President, may I inquire as to the amount of time we have in morning business?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. We have 7\1/2\ minutes remaining.
Mr. SALAZAR. May I inquire of my friend from West Virginia as to whether he planned on using any of the time in morning business.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I do have an amendment, and I will speak to that amendment.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. If the Senator from West Virginia does have not objection, we will allow the Senator from Colorado to finish his remarks, and then we will recognize the Senator from West Virginia.
Mr. BYRD. Very well.
Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, so I am clear on my time, I have about 7 minutes in morning business allocated to me under the current order?
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. That is correct.
Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. President, let me continue with respect to the comments I was making concerning the issue of energy.
If you think about the 1970s and the 1980s, it was the economy that was at the root of what we were trying to do to develop solar energy and wind energy and looking at biofuels and the like. A lot has changed in those times. There is tremendous interest and a tremendous amount of energy being spent in each of our committees here in the Senate and the House of Representatives and in the White House and the Department of Energy on a clean energy future for America.
Some people will ask the question today: Well, is this another short-
lived agenda in the same way it was in the 1970s and the 1980s? When you look at the charts and you see what we were investing in clean energy technology back in the 1970s and 1980s, it was significantly higher than what we are investing in the 1980s and the 1990s and the early 2000s.
I submit that things have changed because the drivers today are not only the economic drivers of our time. Today when we look at the energy issues we face in our world, it is not just about the volatility of the energy markets we see around the world and here in the United States, there are two other drivers that are equally as important. The first of those drivers has to be our national security. When you think about the fact that today we are importing about 60 percent of our oil from foreign countries, in the next 10 to 15 years, if projections continue the way they are, and growth continues the way it is expected to continue, we will be importing 70 percent of our oil from foreign countries.
If that occurs, then we will continue to compromise the foreign policy, the national security of this Nation in a manner none of us should ever allow to happen. In fact, it would be a dereliction of duty for this Congress, for the Senate, and for this country to allow that to happen.
In the latest skirmish with Israel and Lebanon, one has to ask the question about where that money was coming from that was funding the militia group of Hezbollah in its firing of nearly 10,000 rockets into the northern city of Haifa in northern Israel. One has to ask that question, where was the money coming from that would fund the 10,000 members of that militia group called Hezbollah in Lebanon and other places around the world?
Well, we do not need to look very far for the answer to that question. You and I know--you as the Presiding Officer are well aware of the security interests here in our country--very well that the money creating and funding the terrorist groups in places such as Lebanon is coming from oil. It is coming from oil we are paying $60 and $70 a barrel for today.
So the very national security of our country requires us, it demands of us, and we can do no less than to move forward with an agenda that grasps the imperative of energy independence in our world. That energy independence will come about with great opportunities as we look at a clean energy future for America. We will be able to derive jobs and create the kind of national economic security we need in the United States of America.
The final driver is the issue of global warming. The debate is about whether global warming is an issue that needs to be confronted in the United States of America, the debate that was being held several years ago. But I would imagine most people in the United States of America today are saying it is important for us to confront this issue.
In fact, as we are opening this day in the Senate, Senator Bingaman and Senator Domenici are holding a hearing with members of the European Union on the issue of global warming. Things have changed. Things have changed from the 1970s and the 1980s and the 1990s when America slept, and the only factor that was driving us to energy independence was the volatility of the markets.
Today the driver is national security. We cannot afford to compromise our national security by continuing to be overdependent, by continuing our current addiction to foreign oil. We cannot afford to ignore the issue of global warming that threatens the future of civilization. How we approach those issues and how we develop solutions that bring us to a positive movement forward is very important.
The issue of energy is one that can bring America together. To be sure, the last 6 years have seen a divided America on many issues, including Iraq. Energy can bring together Democrats and Republicans, progressives and conservatives, much as the Energy Futures Coalition has done in working with all of us. We crafted legislation that we call Set America Free. It is my hope that by the time the Senate finishes for the year or before we begin the August recess, we will have legislation that is bipartisan in nature, that will move us forward with a new energy future for America. That energy future will be one that is bound by a vision of a clean energy future that includes renewable energies, new technologies, and that goes after the low-
hanging fruit of energy efficiency and addresses the issue of global warming.
I ask unanimous consent that a portion of a speech I gave at an energy summit in Colorado be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
Colorado New Energy Summit--2007
This is the dawning of a new age for Colorado and America--this is the dawning of the age of America's clean energy future!
One year ago, we hosted the first Colorado renewable energy summit. That 2006 Summit brought more than 500 of us together to talk about our national energy policy and Colorado's energy opportunities. We put renewable energy in the headlines for Colorado, and we've kept energy at the top of Colorado's agenda for the past year.
This Saturday, March 24, 2007, over one thousand people from Colorado joined us for Colorado's New Energy Summit. We were joined by two United States Senators, the Colorado Governor, the Mayor of Denver, six Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the President of the Colorado Senate, the Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives . . . and more than one thousand Coloradans who want more renewable energy, improved energy efficiency, and greater energy independence.
One year ago, we talked about attracting more energy research projects and more energy entrepreneurs to Colorado. Today, we have the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, an incredible association of the National Renewable Energy Lab, the Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University and the University of Colorado at Boulder. And even though the ink is not yet dry on the Collaboratory Agreement, these four great research institutions have already launched a world class research program: the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels--C2B2.
And Colorado's private clean energy sector is taking off, too.Wind
Colorado has added 60 megawatts of wind capacity in the last two years.
And by the end of 2007, we will add another 775 megawatts, more than tripling the State's production of wind power to more than 1,000 megawatts.Solar
Since the passage of Amendment 37, Colorado's solar rooftop industries have seen growth of 40% per year.
And the State's first commercial solar electricity project will be constructed in the San Luis Valley in 2007.Biodiesel
In 2004, there was no biodiesel produced in Colorado.
Today, we have three plants producing more than 30 million gallons a year, and a fourth plant ready to start operations.Ethanol
Two years ago, there were no ethanol plants in Colorado.
Today, three plants produce more than 90 million gallons per year, and a fourth plant will come on line in 2007, adding another 50 million gallons per year.
And that's not all. We have locally based:
Wind energy companies
Solar photovoltaic designers and manufacturers
Cellulosic ethanol companies, engaged in R&D and preparing to build biorefineries
Hybrid vehicle manufacturers
Hybrid and plug-in vehicle battery manufacturers
Engine efficiency research companies
And that's only the beginning.
Colorado's clean, renewable energy economy is on the move.
We have got a long road ahead of us, but we have found our stride and we know our destination: Colorado will be the world's center for renewable energy research, development and production.
america's energy challenges
We have come a long way in the past year, and we should be proud, but we must be realistic about the energy challenges that face us as a Nation and world.
energy security and independence
First, energy policy is at the heart of our national security. The United States continues to import much more oil than we produce. Nearly two-thirds of our oil supplies come from abroad. And much of that oil, comes from unstable and even politically hostile regions. Our deep dependence on foreign oil means that our national security is constantly at risk. Our oil supply lines are long and fragile. Even worse, our dependence on foreign oil means that we're sending hundreds of billions of dollars overseas, much of which flows to regimes that are hostile or corrupt or both. Indeed, we are funding the very regimes that threaten our interests. It is foolish to think we can control our Nation's security if we can't control our energy lifelines.
It may be decades before we get the majority of liquid transportation fuels from renewable sources, but that doesn't mean renewables can't make a significant difference immediately. We produced nearly five billion gallons of ethanol in 2006, biodiesel is on the rise and cellulosic biofuels will be in commercial production by 2009. We can also look to other current or emerging technologies--hybrids and plug-in electrics--to reduce our thirst for oil.
There are a lot of good reasons to turn to renewable energy, but I start with this one: the most effective step to increase our national security in the twenty-first century is to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Energy and Economic Sustainability
The second energy challenge that we face is economic. We're not going to run out of oil any time soon, but we're going to run out of cheap oil. Oil from new reserves and alternative sources, like the deep Gulf of Mexico reserves and Canadian tar sands, will cost much more to find, to extract and to refine. On top of increased costs, we are going to see increasing competition from the rapidly growing economies qf China and India and other developing nations. That means demand pressures on top of supply pressures.
And it is not just our cars and trucks that run on oil--much of our current economy depends on oil and natural gas. We heat with it, we produce lubricants and fertilizers and commercial chemicals with it, and we make plastics and fibers and construction materials from it. The economic competitiveness of our economy will be determined in substantial part by how we cope with increasing energy costs. In coming decades, those economies that develop reliable, affordable sources of energy will thrive. Those economies that remain dependent on imported oil and gas will suffer.
But, there is also an economic opportunity. There is money to be made in creating new energy technologies, and there is money to be made in using them. America has led the world in developing renewable energy technologies, but we have lost much of our advantage because other nations have been much better at implementing those technologies. Solar energy, wind energy, biofuels--most of these technologies were originally developed here, but other nations have surpassed us in manufacturing or implementing these technologies. We should admire the Japanese and the Germans for their solar photovoltaics, the Israelis for concentrating on solar power, the Danes and Germans for their advances in wind technology, and the Brazilians for their ethanol, but there is no reason for us to import their technology when we can manufacture this equipment right here in America.
Energy and Rural America
I believe our economic future depends on our ability to create the energy technologies of tomorrow.
Nowhere is this more true than in rural America. With the advent of new energy technologies--including biofuels, wind and solar--rural America can become not only our food basket, but also our energy basket. At a time when we have record trade deficits and much of rural America is struggling economically, we should be investing in renewable energy from our farms and ranches instead of importing foreign oil.
And let me point out that all our energy does not have to come from 500 megawatt electric power plants or 100 million gallon a year ethanol plants. Big centralized plants will always have their place, but much of our energy can come from smaller production plants, whether it's a small wind farm or a community-owned biodiesel plant. Distributed generation of electricity and biofuels will play a major role in our energy future, and much of that energy production will benefit rural America, both by creating new sources of income and by reducing the cost of locally produced and locally used energy.
global warming
The two drivers of national security and economic challenges and opportunities drive us toward a renewable energy and energy efficiency future. But there is a third driver, just as compelling: global warming. Average temperatures are rising, glaciers and sea ice are melting, and the overwhelming majority of scientists agree that our use of fossil fuels is a significant part of the problem.
There is no single solution to this crisis, no silver bullet. But there are lots of options that will contribute to a solution, including technologies and investments that increase energy efficiency and conservation. Currently available technologies, like fuel-efficient cars and compact fluorescent light bulbs, reduce energy consumption. Biofuels replace billions of gallons of gasoline and diesel, and biofuels reduce the net amount of greenhouse gas emissions because next year's crop will capture the emissions from this year's fuels. Once installed, solar and wind technologies produce electricity without generating any carbon dioxide.
And new technologies may enable us to use some fossil fuels without contributing to global warming. IGCC--integrated gasification combined cycle--power plants, for example, may allow us to capture the carbon dioxide in coal before it is released to the atmosphere, so that the CO2 can be used or can be sequestered deep underground.
With creativity and commitment, there are many actions that we can take that will substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help to turn the tide of global warming.
Countless generations of human beings have in my State enjoyed this beautiful planet. But it is not certain that our grandchildren and great grandchildren will be able to enjoy snowcapped peaks, mountain streams, Colorado skiing, lush green forests and fields of grain. If we want them to see and enjoy Colorado's beauty and enjoy our State's natural resources, then we need to act--now. And what is true for Colorado is true for the Nation. Those of us who walk the Earth today are not solely responsible for the fact of global warming--the roots of this crisis go back to the Industrial Revolution--but it falls to us to do something about it. We must not fail.
The three great energy challenges that confront us at the dawn of the 21st century are daunting--national security, economic sustainability and the future of our planet. But we know we can and will confront these challenges. And part of the solution to each of these challenges lies in renewable energy and efficiency and other clean energy technologies. For the past 25 years, America has lacked the consistent political leadership and public commitment to pursue these new technologies, but their time has come and today we can unite America in the spirit of bipartisanship to confront these challenges.
State and local leadership
Much of the leadership in the areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency has come from local and state efforts. In November, 2004, the people of Colorado were the first in the Nation to enact a renewable energy standard by popular vote with the adoption of Amendment 37. Our General Assembly and our new Governor have taken up the baton and carried it forward with exciting new programs that will expand wind and solar power in Colorado. Other states have done the same.
Energy in the 110th Congress
So I applaud and encourage this kind of state and local leadership, but the ultimate success of our new energy policy and our new energy economy will also require national leadership in this 110th Congress.
I am proud to be a sponsor, with Senator Chuck Grassley, of Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 to adopt 25 25 as a national goal. Many of you know about this initiative. The goal is to produce 25% of our total energy needs from our farms, ranches and forests by the year 2025. Independent studies confirm we can achieve that goal. 25 25 makes economic sense. Achieving this goal will yield over 700 billion dollars in economic activity and create more than 4 million new jobs. A combination of energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy can get us to our goal. We should establish the 25 25 resolution this Congress.
As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I am also working on the 2007 Farm Bill with Senator Tom Harkin and my colleagues on that Committee. This new Farm Bill will include an expanded Energy Title that will create new programs and build upon existing programs to make the goal of 25 25 achievable. Just two weeks ago, Senator Harkin, Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, traveled to Colorado for two purposes: to visit NREL and to hold a Committee hearing on the Farm Bill. Senator Harkin and I agree that good farm policy means good energy policy in this new world.
I am also enthused by Senator Max Baucus and my colleagues on the Finance Committee as we do our part to address the energy challenges of our time. I have introduced a series of bills that will help us I produce more renewable energy, adopt more energy efficient technologies and combat global warming.
Senate Bill 672 is the Rural Community Energy Bonds Act. I support our big wind farms, but we need a lot of small wind farms, too, and we need a lot of small biomass and solar and other renewable energy projects. This bill will allow small renewable energy projects with at least 49 percent local ownership to qualify for tax-exempt bonds. That will make it easier for locally and community owned renewable energy projects in rural and small town America to find investors. And local ownership means that more of the profits from those projects will stay on Main Street in Colorado's small towns.
I have also introduced the Rural Wind Energy Development Act, Senate Bill 673. This bill will create a tax credit for every residential wind turbine installed and will also allow for accelerated depreciation on those turbines. For turbines under 100 kilowatts, there's a tax credit of $1,500 for each half-kilowatt of generating capacity. As I said earlier, we need more distributed generation, and this bill will help us develop it.
I am also working on several other bills to encourage renewable energy production and energy efficiency investments. The Securing America's Energy Independence Act will extend the energy tax credit for solar technologies and for residential energy efficiency improvements through 2016. If we want manufacturers to build these technologies and we want homeowners to buy them, we need to create reliable incentives that encourage planning and investment.
I am also proud to co-sponsor the DRIVE Act with Senator Bingaman and nearly 30 co-sponsors, with equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats. The Drive Act stands for Dependence Reduction through Innovation in Vehicles and Energy. This bill, Senate Bill 339, and other related legislation, will reduce oil consumption by 25% by 2025, impose Federal fleet conservation requirements, support research on electric vehicles, require the Federal government to purchase 15% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015, and would phase-out incandescent light bulbs in favor of more energy efficient technologies. I am hopeful that this bill will pass in this Congress.
I'm also working with other members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to draft a bill to require the use of 30 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2020, to increase the funding for bioenergy research and development, and to offer financial support for renewable fuel production facilities, including cellulosic biofuel plants and biorefineries.
We should all recognize that we are going to be dependent on fossil fuels for a significant portion of our energy for the next several decades, so I'm sponsoring legislation to conduct a national assessment of our carbon sequestration capacity. As we continue to burn fossil fuels, we must find a way to reduce the volume of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. IGCC technology can achieve its promise only if we can effectively sequester the carbon dioxide that's captured.
Conclusion
Together, the 110th Congress can lead our State and our Nation to a new energy future.
Mr. SALAZAR. I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Klobuchar). The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BYRD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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