Christopher Shays: “while Rome is burning, we are eating grapes. We waste energy. We consume 25 percent of the world's energy, yet only 2.7…”

“while Rome is burning, we are eating grapes. We waste energy. We consume 25 percent of the world's energy, yet only 2.7 percent of the world's oil reserves are in the United States of America. We are depleting our savings account. The President was right. We are addicted to oil. George Miller and other Members of Congress are right. We are addicted to oil. We are addicted to fossil fuel. We consume fossil fuel at an alarming rate. We need to conserve. Mr. Boehlert is right. The proponents of this bill like to point out that if this legislation had been enacted 11 years ago, ANWR would now be producing oil. But Mr. Boehlert points out if we had higher conservation standards 11 years ago, we would save more oil than we would get from ANWR. The bottom line to me is very clear. ANWR is a national set aside area. It is a pristine area. It is a small part of Alaska and should not be mined. Why don't we mine the rest of Alaska, all the other parts of the northern slope and the rest of Alaska? We have only 2.7 percent of the world's oil reserves. We need to say ``no'' to the mining of ANWR, ``yes'' to exploring other areas, ``yes'' to other energy including, renewable energy, ``yes'' to conservation. Increase the mileage standards of SUVs, minivans and trucks, increase the mileage standards of cars, and we will save far more than we will ever get from ANWR.”