Gwen Graham: “in the year 2003--this year-- smaller sites were to have been required to adopt the same pollution controls which, since…”

“in the year 2003--this year-- smaller sites were to have been required to adopt the same pollution controls which, since 1990, have applied to large projects. Under industry pressure, the EPA issued a 2-year extension for the oil and gas industry. All other sectors, including small municipalities, still have to comply. This section of the Energy bill adopts a permanent exemption for all construction at oil and gas sites, including those sites that held permits for over 10 years. These are only some of the examples of environmental rollbacks in this Energy bill related to clean water, clean air, the National Environmental Protection Act, and other important enactments designed to protect the environment and the public health. The Energy bill we have before us today cannot guarantee Americans that their energy future is secure. Returning to the illuminating remark of Yogi Berra, if we look at this legislation, we begin to get some sense of where we are headed. With this Energy bill, we have written the next chapter in the book ``War On Our Children,'' and it describes the next battle: Drain America First, overlook conservation measures, ignore strategies to reduce depletion of domestic reserves. The residue of these outdated ideas will undoubtedly stain the future.”