Political Quotes

“If I may respond, I think we have to make a general acknowledgment that States are responsible. Their utility commissions are responsible. Their ratepayers are responsible. They are going to respond as they see fit to the needs of their people as opposed to what the Senator from New Mexico is proposing as a mandate--everything is equal. It is not equal. It is not equal in my State. It is not equal in Hawaii. We are not even connected to the continental United States. Yet there is a mandate here. Hawaii has to come across the same way as Alaska, the same way as Iowa. I think to suggest that a State would be irresponsible is selling short the American citizen. People are concerned about energy sources. They are concerned about pollution. I do not think any State is going to stand by for irresponsible actions, or a percentage that would suggest an unrealistic contribution to renewables. Who are we to stand here and simply mandate that everybody has to be the same? What we have recognized is realistic.”