Byron Dorgan: “What is the renewable portfolio standard? To some, when we talk about an energy policy, debate on that term sounds like…”

“What is the renewable portfolio standard? To some, when we talk about an energy policy, debate on that term sounds like a foreign language--a renewable portfolio standard. It means an attempt by this country to develop different approaches, using renewable, limitless supplies of energy to produce electricity in our country. There are some who despair this energy bill that is designed to try to take us into a new day and a new approach to energy policy, does not have the CAFE standard that was voted on last week. Some are concerned about that. Frankly, with or without the CAFE standard, this piece of legislation does include some significant areas of improvement in dealing with the efficiency of the transportation sector. It does, for example, provide very significant financial inducements for people to buy automobiles that have new sources of power: fuel cell automobiles, hybrid automobiles, and others. We recognize that if you are going to deal with this country's energy problem, you have to deal with efficiency of the energy used in transportation.”