Lynn C. Woolsey: “the majority party says that we need to find a better way to end our energy crisis and a way to bring gas prices down.…”

“the majority party says that we need to find a better way to end our energy crisis and a way to bring gas prices down. Well, that sounds really good because that is exactly what we need to do. But the solution they are offering today is not a solution. There is a better way, and that is for certain. In fact, by providing tax incentives for the construction of energy- efficient buildings and heating equipment, by doing that alone, we could save more than 12 times the Interior Department's estimate of economically recoverable gas outside the central and western Gulf of Mexico. This plan they are offering for more offshore drilling for four States makes every other use of coastal waters subordinate to drilling for oil. Mr. Speaker, we shouldn't even be discussing it. Do they really think that the people of this country don't get it? Well, let me tell you, the people in my district, Marin and Sonoma Counties north of San Francisco, get it. They know that what makes this bill even worse than being a Band-Aid is that it is a destructive solution.”