Lee Terry: “it is important that as we approach the summer of 2004, more than 3 years since Congress started the current energy…”

“it is important that as we approach the summer of 2004, more than 3 years since Congress started the current energy debate, that we are still without an energy bill. Although as a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, I think we have passed it on this side about three times. In those 4 years, the price of oil has increased 75 percent from around $23 a barrel in 2001 to $40 a barrel as we stand here today. Natural gas has increased 80 percent, from between $3 and $4 a few years ago to more than $6 today. Since 2001, the price of gasoline has increased 52 percent. A blackout last summer showed vulnerabilities in our electrical transmission, which this bill addresses. Our $11 trillion economy depends on a foundation of affordable energy, and we need a modern energy plan today. This bill contains incentives to increase production of all energy sources, provisions to expedite construction of a natural gas pipeline from Alaska; renewable fuel standards, including 5 billion gallons of ethanol; tax credits for the purchase of fuel-efficient hybrid automobiles; electrical reliability language; a 50 percent increase in energy efficiency and conservation funding over the next 5 years; and new funding for futuristic alternative technologies, such as the hydrogen fuel cell, which are really within our grasp but we need to just remain to make usable and feasible. That is what is in this bill.”