Pete Domenici: “I want the Senate to know on our side we do not intend to use as much time as we have, unless other Senators want to…”

“I want the Senate to know on our side we do not intend to use as much time as we have, unless other Senators want to speak. Senator Alexander certainly wants some additional time. Senator Bingaman, I don't know if your side needs the whole amount. We are trying to get a unanimous consent agreement shortly. As the Senator from New York leaves the floor, let me say right at the offset, the Bingaman amendment is not a goal. If it were a goal, that would be something different. It is a mandate. There is a very big difference between a goal and a mandate. This says exactly what each State is compelled to do with reference to the kinds of energies that are described. When you boil it all down, it means ``wind'' for the time being. It means each State has to have it. And if they do not, they have to pay money to the Secretary of Energy or they have to buy wind-generated electricity from some other State. While I am on that subject, I would like to put up one little chart. I would like to show this to the Senate. If you look at this map, you can see the white area, in particular the white area down here in the Southeast. The interesting thing is that the white area does not have any source of wind to meet this standard. It is nice if you are not one of those States. But if you are one of them, it is not very nice because you are sort of wind poor. The other States are wind rich.…”