James M. Jeffords: “we will have before us over the next several weeks a historic opportunity to change the direction of energy use in this…”

“we will have before us over the next several weeks a historic opportunity to change the direction of energy use in this country. I know you will hear from many of my colleagues that the events of September 11 have changed how we must view energy, and on that point we must all surely agree. An increasing reliance on energy imports from politically unstable areas of the world is not in America's best interests, and we must reassert our dominance over our own energy production and innovation. One of the most important ways to achieve this is to wean ourselves from foreign oil in our transportation sector, and to diversify the energy base for our electricity generation into clean, domestically produced renewable resources. We have before us a piece of comprehensive energy legislation that quite frankly is one of the best to emerge from this body in some time. Senators Daschle and Bingaman have brought forward, in their comprehensive amendment to S. 517, legislation that would spur the development of renewable energy resources, that will advance efficiency in our transportation, building and electricity sectors, and that will begin to address global climate change. I support many of the provisions of this legislation, particularly those that encourage the production of renewable energy, and those that provide additional funding for energy assistance to low income households.”