Political Quotes

“If we can get a domestic manufacturing supply base for hybrid batteries to get the volume up and the prices down, that would be good. Right now we are all depending upon a Japanese battery manufacturer. We need to have those batteries manufactured in the United States and not be dependent solely on an external source. That is a twofer. We could expend the use of clean cars, burning gasoline only occasionally, expand the number of blue-collar manufacturing jobs--good for the environment and good for workers. But I do not think we can rely on the idea that we will achieve 100 percent hybrid and plug-in use during this bill. The NRDC study also assumes massive new production from carbon captured from powerplants and used for enhanced oil recovery. I support this too. But to think we can cut oil imports by 58 percent because we are expanding domestic production from burned-out wells through enhanced oil recovery is beyond the possible. So if we set studies aside by environmental groups supporting the bill and manufacturing groups such as NAM opposing the bill, that leads us to the mainstream Government agencies such as EPA. They say gasoline prices will rise 53 cents per gallon by 2030, $1.40 by 2050. If you add a $1.40-per-gallon Lieberman carbon surcharge to the current price of $4-a-gallon gasoline, you get gas prices at $5.50 a gallon. I can tell folks back home right now there is no way I can accept the Lieberman-Warner offer of $5.50-a-gallon gasoline.”