Political Quotes

“I just wish to say to my colleague Senator Inhofe before he leaves, that under this President we have seen more domestic energy production than we have seen probably in decades and decades--more domestic energy production and less reliance on imported oil than we have seen in decades and decades. So let's not attack President Obama for not working to ensure that we have the domestic capacity here at home to produce energy, because we are producing it from all sources. The other point I wish to make is that my friends on the other side are ignoring the facts. The facts are that for every $1 to $3 that will be invested in clean utilities, we get back $9 in benefits. The Presiding Officer has spoken on this quite often, and the fact is there are many benefits to doing this. The other point I wish to make--which is very important--is that one- half of our coal-fired powerplants have already made these important technology upgrades. That is wonderful news. Why would we reward companies that haven't done what these others have done, that are continuing to spew forth the most dangerous chemicals? The list of them goes on and on. But we are talking about mercury, we are talking about arsenic, lead, and formaldehyde. I will get into that, but if we allow this congressional resolution to pass, why would we be rewarding the most recalcitrant utilities that are not cleaning up when the technology is clearly there? There is a cost-benefit ratio.…”