Maria Cantwell: “First, I compliment the Senator for her very articulate understanding of the impact of greenhouse gases and where our…”

“First, I compliment the Senator for her very articulate understanding of the impact of greenhouse gases and where our country needs to go. So thank you for your leadership. We are so happy that you are chairing that committee and showing the fortitude to make sure this legislation starts moving through the Senate. You mentioned California's experience. I wonder if you would just elaborate on that one more time because I think the point may have been--it sounds so simple but yet so complex. California's savings is what we are trying to do in the Energy bill. Here we have a 20-percent reduction of fuel consumption and a 20-percent reduction of greenhouse gases. That is why we need to pass the Energy bill. But you are talking about California's efficiency, and the efficiency that it achieved was monumental and significant. If you would, emphasize or explain how it is that we should be doing the same thing in the Senate in moving forward on efficiency.”