Thomas Daschle: “we are now reaching the end of 6 weeks of debate on this energy bill. I want to thank Chairman Bingaman for his tireless…”

“we are now reaching the end of 6 weeks of debate on this energy bill. I want to thank Chairman Bingaman for his tireless leadership. He began this process by coordinating the work of nine separate committees, and he has done an amazing job of shepherding this large, difficult, and sometimes contentious piece of legislation to its conclusion. When we began this energy debate, I spoke about the need to keep in mind four key goals. I said that any energy plan we pass should increase our energy independence . . . it should be good for consumers . . . it should create jobs . . . and it should be responsible--both environmentally and fiscally. In a number of places, this bill meets those goals. In some, it falls short. But overall, this is a far more responsible, progressive, consumer-friendly energy policy than the one advanced by the Administration, or passed by the House. Our energy plan invests in new ideas, new technologies, and new approaches to old problems. It demonstrates that our energy policy need not be a tug-of-war between increased production and increased conservation. This bill helps us do both. For example, this bill encourages the construction of a pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the lower forty-eight states. There are 35 trillion cubic feet of known natural gas reserves on the North Slope of Alaska. Right now, that gas is being pumped back into the ground because there's no way to get it to the American consumers who need it.”