Political Quotes

“I thought my colleague from the great State of Tennessee, Senator Alexander, made an excellent statement. Although I might disagree with some part of it, I really believe he is speaking to this issue in good terms. I was heartened by the fact that the first thing he said about energy was conservation. I believe that is a critical starting place. I am going to give the Senator from Tennessee four numbers--not for the lottery, for the Powerball or anything, but four numbers to think about. The numbers are 3, 25, 4, and 3 again. Here is what they signify. We have within our command and control in the United States of America 3 percent of the energy reserves of the world--3 percent. Everything we could possibly turn to and explore and bring out of the Earth, whether offshore or in the continental United States, is 3 percent. Twenty-five: We consume 25 percent of the world's energy. It is clear that we cannot drill our way into energy independence. It just does not work. The numbers do not come together. The next number is 4. Four represents the number of months of natural gas which we hope we can bring out of this offshore drilling for the United States--a 4-month supply of natural gas for our country. The final number, 3, represents a 3-month supply of the oil our country consumes. So as important as exploration is and finding new sources, you had the right starting point. You hit the nail on the head.…”