Pete Domenici: “I know if we are going to be able to get 60 votes for this agreement--I do not know if we are going to be able to, but…”

“I know if we are going to be able to get 60 votes for this agreement--I do not know if we are going to be able to, but, frankly, there is part of me that is quite all right with that. As prices and imports rise, Members are going to begin to reconsider their position. They are going to begin to reconsider their opposition to domestic production. I believe at some point, if we do not take intervening steps, we will be forced to open ANWR. I say to the occupant of the chair, which you have been advocating since the day you arrived, and for the many days you were in your State legislature, unless we get control of this situation, I think we will find ourselves confronted with that decision, sooner rather than later. As much as we possibly can, without a new political consensus about energy, this bill addresses the following problems. This is a minimal list. One, it makes regulation of the electricity grid predictable so new investment can flow into the transmission system. It is a huge part of our problem. Two, it encourages massive new construction of windmills--60 gigawatts is expected, at a minimum, of new wind power, about 10 times the current amount. Why? Because this bill makes the production tax credit permanent. And listen up. It expired as of January 1. It is not there for those who are building windmills. They know it is gone. It is in this bill. It is there for biomass and a lot of other things.…”