Tom Udall: “today we are voting in the 11 o'clock series on the renewable electricity standard--a bill to promote 25 percent of our…”

“today we are voting in the 11 o'clock series on the renewable electricity standard--a bill to promote 25 percent of our electricity to come by renewable sources by 2025. From what we have heard these past few weeks, we are either on the floor debating an energy bill or a jobs bill. This is what my Republican friends and colleagues have been saying. The Keystone Pipeline fits neither one of these descriptions. The Keystone Pipeline is not an energy bill. The bill lacks a comprehensive energy policy; it lacks even trying to set one. This is not a ``do it all, do it right'' energy bill. It isn't even a ``drill, baby, drill'' bill. This is the ``drill, Canada'' bill. If we are going to debate energy policy, we need to debate and adopt a renewable electricity standard. The Keystone Pipeline is an investment in doing things the old way--importing foreign oil. Instead of doubling down on foreign oil, we should be talking about how we can move America forward by investing in homegrown energy for the future. The renewable electricity standard is such a bill. I wish to point out that States already recognize this fact significantly. Colorado has a 30-percent target by 2020. Nevada has a 25-percent target by 2025. Oregon has a 25-percent target by 2025. A number of other States have renewable electricity targets. Twenty-nine States, in fact, are developing a national market. There are many States that are meeting these goals and moving forward aggressively.…”