Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I rise today to offer an amendment which addresses another misguided and restrictive Federal regulation. Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act prevents Federal agencies from entering into contracts for the procurement of a fuel unless its life cycle greenhouse gas emissions are less than or equal to emissions from an equivalent conventional fuel produced from conventional petroleum sources. In summary, my amendment would stop the government from enforcing this ban on all Federal agencies funded by the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill. The initial purpose of section 526 was to stop the Defense Department's plans to buy and develop coal-based or coal-to-liquids jet fuel. This restriction was based on the opinion of some environmentalists that coal-based jet fuel might produce more greenhouse gas emissions than jet fuel from traditional petroleum. We must ensure that our military has adequate fuel resources and that it can rely on domestic and more stable sources of fuel. Unfortunately, section 526's ban on fuel choice now affects all Federal agencies, not just the Defense Department, which is why I am offering this amendment again today to the Homeland Security appropriations bill. Federal agencies should not be burdened with wasting their time studying fuel restrictions when there is a simple fix: to not restrict our fuel choices based on extreme environmental views, policies, and misguided regulations like those in section 526.…”