Collin Peterson: “Mr. Speaker, the need to move our Nation toward energy independence has never been clearer, yet this administration has…”

“Mr. Speaker, the need to move our Nation toward energy independence has never been clearer, yet this administration has stood by, leaving consumers struggling to pay their winter heating bills as oil companies continue to enjoy billions in record profits. With this legislation, we can recover $14 billion in unnecessary oil and gas subsidies and target that money toward where it should have been going all along, into renewable energy sources created right here at home, into alternative fuels grown on our farms and energy-efficiency technologies, creating jobs, protecting our consumers and our economy. We could generate over 800,000 jobs by 2010, jobs from the Great Plains to the Northeast. In Bethlehem, Connecticut, we have the first biodiesel production plant in New England, in partnership with Maryland and Delaware soybean growers. By supporting this legislation, we have an opportunity to begin bridging the cultural, economic and social divide growing between rural America and other parts of the country. It starts with investments. It starts with this bill. Let us take control of our energy policy. Let us put our country on the path to energy independence and reenergize our farm economy. Let's pass this bill.”