Marcy Kaptur: “I was pleased to cast my vote today for the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007. Some of us have been urging energy independence…”

“I was pleased to cast my vote today for the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007. Some of us have been urging energy independence for decades. In fact, President Jimmy Carter had it right over three decades ago when he said the Arab oil embargo was the moral equivalent of war. But America lost sight of his compelling vision for energy independence. We need to give birth to a new sustainable energy age that is bold and develops alternative energy supplies and the infrastructure to support it. President Bush suddenly realized last year that we have become addicted to foreign oil, of course, most of it coming from the most undemocratic regimes in the world. But during his administration, we are importing 1 billion more barrels of oil from those very undemocratic places since he assumed office. Simply put, his rhetoric doesn't match reality. I am pleased today that we took some important steps in shifting how Federal resources are dedicated, taking them away from preferential treatment to an oil industry with record profits and little social conscience. Instead, we must incentivize a domestically owned energy industry that has record potential, a shift that America wants and we must take. While $14 billion over 10 years is nothing to ignore, it is still far too little, especially since more than a third of this amount, a little more than $5 billion, doesn't become available until the 10th year.”