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Energy
Home Energy Prices * Energy
for our Future Act * ANWR * LNG
* CAFE Standards * Energy
Legislation in 110th Congress * Renewable
Energy and Energy Efficiency * Report
Gas Price Gouging
Protecting our environment and promoting energy independence
are two of the most important jobs I have as a Member of Congress.
The fact is with only three percent of the world's oil but
25 percent of its use, the U.S. can never drill our way to
energy security. I believe our policy should reduce demand
for oil by emphasizing conservation, and promoting the use
of alternative energy sources, such as solar power.
Our national security is threatened by our dependence on
foreign countries that do not share our views on democracy
or our commitment to combat radical Islamist terrorists. Over
half of the oil we use is imported and our dependence will
only increase in the future. By relying on oil from OPEC in
the Middle East and countries like Venezuela and Nigeria,
we place our national security in the hands of authoritarian
governments.
Home Energy Prices
I am concerned about the high cost of heating oil. Of the
8.1 million households in the U.S. that use heating oil to
heat their homes, roughly 78 percent are located in the Northeast.
That means the demand and price for oil in our region are
particularly high. Even before recent price increases, heating
oil prices have been high because American consumption of
oil has been increasing at an unsustainable rate. In 1995
we consumed 17.7 million barrels of oil per day, but today
we consume 20 million barrels per day.
Click Here
for Department of Energy Information to Help Lower Your Energy
Bills
I am also concerned about the high cost of natural gas. As
a Southern Connecticut Gas customer, the cost to heat my house
has gone up dramatically. Like other commodities, natural
gas prices go up and down as supply and demand change. Additionally,
the price of natural gas, which has increased dramatically
in two of the past three heating seasons, is impacted by regulation.
While pipeline rates are federally monitored, distribution
charges are regulated at the state level. To ensure natural
gas companies are not unfairly manipulating prices, I
joined the entire Connecticut delegation in requesting a Government
Accountability Office report on market supply and manipulation
of natural gas prices.
Click here to learn more about
Natural Gas Markets.
Energy for Our
Future Act
On April 19, 2007, I reintroduced the Energy for Our Future
Act (H.R. 1945) with Congressman Maurice Hinchey. This legislation
has three principal goals for our national energy policy:
improving the fuel efficiency of passenger vehicles; incentivizing
the purchase of energy-efficient appliances; and repealing
extraneous tax breaks for industries that are very profitable
and have plenty of incentive to develop additional supply.
Click here to read more about the Energy
for Our Future Act
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
(ANWR)
I oppose drilling in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), and for the past six years, I
have been an active and vocal opponent of numerous legislative
attempts to drill in ANWR. We were successful on every attempt.
I am a cosponsor of H.R.
39, the Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act, which
designates specified lands within the ANWR as wilderness and
components of the National Wilderness Preservation
In my judgment, it would be far better to develop prudent
and lasting alternate fuel energies than to risk irreparable
damage to the wilderness of one of North America's most beautiful
frontiers and establish a precedent to allow oil and gas development
in our few remaining pristine natural areas.
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Facilities
While I believe liquefied natural gas is a viable alternative
energy source, I
do not support the placement of an LNG facility in the middle
of Long Island Sound. Protecting our environment and promoting
energy independence are two of the most important jobs I have
as a Member of Congress.
Long Island Sound is our Yellowstone. It would be unthinkable
to site an industrial facility in the middle of it.
There is very little information on the impacts of floating
regasification facilities, since there are so few currently
in existence. However, there are four primary concerns. First,
trenching to connect the barge to existing gas pipelines would
cause significant damage to the seabed. Second, the intake
and discharge of the giant facility would degrade the water
quality. Third, potential explosions from platform operations,
other technical malfunctions and tankers bringing shipments
of LNG into the facility will threaten human and ecological
safety. Finally, Broadwater, particularly where it is located,
would set a precedent that could lead to unwise industrialization
of Long Island Sound.
You may be interested to know, during debate on the House
version of H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act,
I cosponsored an amendment striking a provision that allows
LNG terminals to be built without state approval. States
and localities should be able to maintain the ability to block
or approve decisions that could pose serious environmental
and health hazards to its coastal areas and its citizens.
Unfortunately, this amendment failed by a vote of 194 to 237.
CAFE Standards
I agree with you and believe raising CAFE standards is one
of the most significant steps we can take as a nation to reduce
our dependence on foreign oil, improve our national security,
and protect our environment and economy. Even a modest increase
in CAFE standards would save more oil than would be produced
by drilling in the Arctic National Refuge.
I am an original cosponsor of H.R.
1506, the Fuel Economy Reform Act, which would raise CAFE
standards for automobiles and light trucks from today's average
of 25 miles per gallon to 36 miles per gallon by 2018.
You may be interested to know, the Energy for Our Future Act
increases CAFE standards for cars and light trucks even further
than H.R. 1506. This legislation would increase CAFE standards
from today's average of 25 miles per gallon to 40 miles per
gallon by 2018, which would save four to five million barrels
of oil per day by 2022.
Click
Here to Learn More About CAFE Standards
Energy
Legislation in 110th Congress
I voted for
H.R. 3221, the New Direction for Energy Independence, National
Security and Consumer Protection Act, which passed the
House by a vote of 241 to 172 on August 4. This bill sets
new efficiency standards for appliances, lighting and buildings,
authorize several grants for research into sustainable energy
sources and alternative fuels, introduces new tax credits
to encourage energy efficiency, and articulates a national
commitment to pledge all major greenhouse gas emitting countries
to reduce their emissions. I also voted for an amendment to
increase the renewable portfolio standard for electricity
companies, requiring suppliers to provide 15 percent of the
electricity from renewable sources by 2020, up form the current
10 percent requirement.
I also voted for
H.R. 2776, the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax
Act, which passed the House by a vote of 221 to 189, on
August 4, 2007. This legislation creates $16.1 billion in
tax incentives over ten years, offset primarily by reducing
current tax benefits for oil and gas companies. The bill will:
- Exempt oil companies from a manufacturing tax credit passed
in 2004, saving $6.3 billion over 10 years;
- Repeal "royalty relief" for oil and natural
gas producers who do not pay royalties on leased federal
land;
- Require the renegotiation of leases in the Gulf of Mexico
that currently do not pay royalties to the federal government
based on contracts negotiated in 1998-1999, producing $14
billion in revenue which will be redirected to a renewable
energy and efficient energy trust fund.
I have long advocated repealing some of the tax breaks we
give oil companies as "incentives" because our current
market place provides adequate incentive as is to find additional
sources of oil.
Click here to learn about my Amendment
to H.R. 3221
Click here to learn more about Energy
Legislation in the 110th Congress
Renewable
Energy and Energy Efficiency
I am an original cosponsor of H.R.
969, legislation to expand the renewable portfolio standard.
This legislation requires electric utilities to increase their
use of wind, solar and other renewable energy sources to 20
percent by 2025. It is time to provide the incentives needed
to finally bring renewable energy into the mainstream and
create a balanced energy policy.
Currently, utilities are required to generate 10 percent of
their power from renewable sources by 2020, represents a sound
compromise and account for only two percent of our nation's
electricity supply. We need to increase the supply of clean,
renewable energy, but we also need to be more energy efficient
and slow the growth of demand.
Gas Price Gouging
As we watch gas prices rise, it is especially important that
consumers be cognizant of possible price-gouging and to report
it promptly. I encourage you to follow this link to the Department
of Energy and fill out their on-line form if you believe there
has been price-gouging or price-fixing in your neighborhood.
Click
here to be directed to the Department of Energy price-gouging
report form.
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