María Elvira Salazar: “the energy legislation that is currently being considered by this Senate is very good energy legislation. From my point…”

“the energy legislation that is currently being considered by this Senate is very good energy legislation. From my point of view, our vision is to get to energy independence for America. The cornerstones of our getting to energy independence in America are set forth in this legislation. They include efficiency and conservation, which is a very significant component of this bill; second, enough emphasis on renewable energy because we know that can help us get to energy independence with the right emphasis on renewables; third, technology because the technological revolution we are working on will allow us, for instance, to convert our massive resources of coal into zero emissions coal, and coal gasification has great promise; and fourth, the development, in a responsible way, of additional fuel resources. I think those cornerstones will help us get a long way down the road toward the energy independence that we require in this country so we are not held hostage to the importation of foreign oil. As important as this Energy bill is, I also strongly believe it is incomplete unless we address the challenge of global warming, which is the subject of the McCain-Lieberman amendment which is now before this body. I applaud both Senator Hagel and Senator Pryor for their efforts yesterday in the successful passage of the global warming amendment to the Energy bill. I believe it will put the spotlight on the reality of global warming before us.…”