Pete Domenici: “across this land, our people are driving up to the gasoline pumps, and they are filling their tank. In the last 6 or 8…”

“across this land, our people are driving up to the gasoline pumps, and they are filling their tank. In the last 6 or 8 months, every time they filled up their tank, the amount went up, up, and up. It peaked for a while, but still, in some parts of America, it is $2 a gallon, $1.90, $1.96. Everybody understands that America has no energy policy. A few months ago, we had a blackout--remember--in the northeastern part of America, something a country such as ours should not have unless somebody intentionally and physically destroyed power lines or big connectors. But it happened because of overload, and it happened because we do not have an energy policy. Natural gas, our most plentiful fuel and the one that is best for America's future, we thought we had enough for anything forever and ever. It turns out that unless we do something to increase our supply, it, too, is going to be in short supply. As a matter of fact, as tough as it is to admit this, unless we bring some huge new natural gas supplies on in America, this great land will go from dependence on crude oil to another state of dependence: dependence on foreign sources for natural gas. We have solar. We have all the renewables. And at this time in our history, they are stalemated. The reason they are stalemated is because they need an energy policy. They need the Energy bill that is sitting up at that desk.”