Political Quotes

“last month a power blackout stranded millions of commuters and shut down businesses in the northeast and midwest. A few weeks later we saw the sharpest weekly increase ever in gasoline prices, just in time for Labor Day. And in Nevada, California and other western States, consumers are still smarting from energy market manipulation by Enron and other companies. It is clear, as President Bush recently pointed out, that our Nation desperately needs an energy policy. But not just any energy policy. It must be the right policy, one that protects consumers, safeguards our environment, and bolsters our national security. That means we must ensure the reliability of our electricity markets, make a serious commitment to conserve energy, balance the interests of big oil companies against the interests of consumers, and kick our addiction to oil from the Middle East. Unfortunately, some of the ideas that seem likely to emerge from the conference committee on the Energy bill would make matters worse, not better. Although the need for a new energy policy is urgent, we must not be stampeded down the wrong path. The Environmental Protection Agency took a dangerous step in that direction just a few weeks after the August blackout, when it relaxed pollution rules for some electric power plants. Allowing old plants to spew more pollution into our air is not the way to create a reliable supply of electricity.”