Maria Cantwell: “There are lots of third parties saying we can achieve this goal. I want to bet on the American ingenuity that is…”

“There are lots of third parties saying we can achieve this goal. I want to bet on the American ingenuity that is outlined in this bill, and other American ingenuity, that we can achieve what it takes to get there. So I am not afraid of setting this goal. I am glad third parties are validating that we can achieve it. My colleague wants to say this is about putting a man on Mars or something of that nature. I can tell you, the American people are right here on planet Earth and paying $2.36 or close to it for gasoline in Seattle, and that is too high. What Americans want is relief. What they know they will not get is relief from language that says we are going to be more dependent in 2015 than we are today. They want us to set a goal to get off that overdependence because, frankly, there is not true competition on oil prices. That is to say when Americans have no alternative fuel at the pump and they have to pay that price, there is no true competition. So Americans want to get off that overdependence. That is what the amendment says and that is what we want to achieve by 2025, 20 years from now. With all the myriad technology in the legislation and all the technology we can create between now and then, let's reverse the trend and be less dependent on foreign oil in 2025 than we are today. That seems to be a national goal on which everyone in this body ought to be able to agree.…”