Jeff Merkley

I think the nuclear industry should feel very good about having this argument over whose plan provides more subsidies for nuclear power.

We need to make sure that we put the United States at the forefront of energy policies that will create stable, low cost energy over the long term.

It is my belief that our economy and our energy strategies are joined at the hip.

In Oregon, green energy jobs are growing at seven times the rate of other jobs in the economy.

It certainly has been a long time since we have had an agency that was dedicated to consumers in the financial world.

Thank you very much. I think that one area where the Portland metropolitan area has been pushing in kind of opposition, or at least not getting a lot of cooperation, was in streetcars.

I think Federal legislation needs to encourage more of that, give localities the tools to evaluate different choices.

I do apologize but I have to return to the healthcare markup.

We need to finally provide the Federal Transit Administration with the resources it needs to meet local demand.

Public transportation creates 19 percent more jobs per dollar invested than road projects do.

Total carbon emissions in Portland are below the 1990 levels.

The Texas Transportation Institute estimates Portland has 20 percent less congestion than it would otherwise.

Pursuing strategies to increase fuel efficiency and cleaning our fuel mix alone will result in failure.

We can't address our dependence on foreign oil without reducing oil consumption in the transportation sector.

Together, this substantial investment in transit coupled with transit-oriented development will lower vehicle miles traveled.

Public transit is a core climate solution, but it is also a core energy solution.

It would be tremendous for the health of our forests, certainly for our ecosystems, for the impact on carbon dioxide in the air and the strength of our forest communities.

I really look forward to working with both of you on this because currently we have viewed our forests as a source of dimensional lumber.

Oregon has a tremendous amount, millions of acres, of second growth forest that is overgrown.

I appreciate you adjusting your schedule to meet now and not when the panel is here later.

Certainly, that carbon dioxide is an issue for our atmosphere.

This was the memo, not about new sources, but about carbon dioxide, in which you noted that controlling carbon dioxide is eco-extremism.

We will continue to spend $1 billion to $2 billion or more every day overseas rather than spending it here in the United States on clean energy.

We need to end our dependence on foreign oil and foreign energy.

Transforming our energy economy is essential. The status quo is simply unacceptable.