Mitch Landrieu: “Senator Bingaman is rightly arguing that while this amendment may need to be perfected, we must develop a portfolio of…”

“Senator Bingaman is rightly arguing that while this amendment may need to be perfected, we must develop a portfolio of renewable fuels in this Nation if we are to reduce our dependency on foreign oil and other sources of power. Let me show a chart that will clearly illustrate that. This is electricity generation by fuel. We, right now, have most of our electricity generated from coal sources with a rising number of generators and powerplants fueled by natural gas. Since Louisiana is the second largest producer of natural gas, I most certainly represent the interests of people wanting to see more domestic production of natural gas. However, we have not been able to move very much this line representing renewables. We hope to increase renewables because by improving our domestic sources of energy, or increasing them, whether from coal, natural gas, nuclear, or renewables, we by virtue of that reduce our dependency on foreign oil sources. By increasing renewables, we can improve our domestic fuel supply. There are several reasons, I suggest, why this is a good thing to do. First, as I said, we need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. Even as someone who comes from a State that produces a lot of oil and gas, I know that one of these days those wells are going to dry up. I certainly hope this does not occur in the foreseeable future, but one day they will, because they are a finite source. Renewables are infinite.”