Energy & Environment

Today I welcomed the ceremonial first delivery of discounted heating oil for low income residents of the Bronx from CITGO-marking the renewal of a very popular program from last winter.

Citizen's Energy-the non-profit heating oil distribution company run by former Representative Joseph Kennedy II-will handle the distribution of the discount fuel this winter throughout New York City's five boroughs and was on hand for the first delivery. Their expertise will help expand this program to many more residents of New York City.

It is great that CITGO is continuing and expanding their discounted home heating oil program for this coming winter. The program is testament to the power of corporations to do good deeds in the communities where they operate, if they put their mind to it. I intend to ask other oil companies to contribute discounted heating oil to the citizens of the Bronx as well-and I hope that they will follow CITGO's lead.

I also intend to work with my Democratic colleagues to make sure that there is adequate LIHEAP funding this year. Our government has a responsibility to help low-income families stay warm through the winter months.

The fight for agriculture disaster relief is not over. I am committed to pursuing every opportunity to get emergency relief to our farmers and ranchers in South Dakota who have been hit with the worst drought conditions since the Great Depression. The harvest season may have come to a close, but the devastating impact of a multi-year drought on our agriculture industry is far from over. I will continue to fight for real relief for the men and women whose farms and ranches are the livelihood of their families’ futures and the backbone of our state’s economy.

America's voters made it clear that they want change and new leadership that will move our nation in a dramatically different direction. A big part of that demand for change is about enacting smart energy solutions that will decrease our dependence on oil, clean up our environment, curb global warming, and create jobs. And candidates at all levels heard the people. Never before have so many candidates -- of both parties -- run on energy issues or shown such commitment to the development of new energy sources, policies, and practices.

Voters yesterday elected new local, state, and national leaders who are ready to take us forward.  America elected a greener U.S. House, a greener U.S. Senate, several greener Governors, and gave a green light to move in the direction of a new energy future. Green candidates were elected at every level of government and in every region in the country. With so many wonderful victories for the environment, it's hard to recognize them all. In the House, new greener Members of Congress were elected in every region of the country. We have gained at least 20 new seats where an anti-environment incumbent was replaced by a green challenger.

Our biggest victory obviously was the defeat of Richard Pombo in California. Sierra Club volunteers, myself included, were working right up to the last minute to turn out the vote for Jerry McNerney. Our ability to defeat an extreme anti-environmental incumbent, when no one else in the country believed the race to be in play, shows the power of these issues with voters and the power of the environmental movement in holding elected officials accountable. The Sacramento Bee reported yesterday  that even the ousted candidate recognized this fact: "Pombo ... has contended that whatever difficulties his reelection drive encountered had little to do with Iraq or Abramoff, and more to do with concerted efforts of environmental groups and other critics who targeted his race."   Looking at the election results, I can say unequivocally that the environment won a resounding victory.

On a day when many of us are feeling a sugar hangover from Halloween, a report this week from a leading economist and the British government suggests we would have a huge economic hangover if we don’t cut global warming emissions soon (but it’s not the Halloween scare that it sounds).

The report, The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, is led by a highly respected former World Bank economist, Nicholas Stern. It finds that the pro-growth strategy for the world is to act now to cut global warming emissions. Stern argues that a failure to act will set in motion climate extremes that act as a permanent drag on the global economy. The review concludes that the economic return on climate protection investments will range from $5-20 per dollar spent.

While there are many offices at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue where this light bulb has not lit up, the good news is we’re seeing action already from states like California (and many in the Northeast), cities like Seattle (and hundreds more across America), major venture capitalists, and nations around the world. Regardless of next week's election results, we expect more pressure to do something real to protect both the climate and economic growth (not to mention cutting overdependence on insecure energy supplies).

Ultimately, it comes down to this: to reap any reward, people know you need to make an investment. And the return on climate protection investments would be five- to twenty-fold, according to the report. The real job-killer would be inaction, which the Stern report suggests could impose a huge economic hit on global GDP. To avoid that sort of economic harm, the report notes we need to put real programs in place now to make big changes happen in the next ten years. Of course, that’s the same timeframe scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst effects of global warming.

Post-Halloween scariness? No, just sound advice from economists and scientists to cut emissions safely and affordably, starting right now.

I joined my colleague and fellow moderate Blanche Lincoln in Nebraska yesterday where we discussed the difference between governing and politicking. Working together to strengthen our country is good governing. And we can’t achieve good government as long as we’re preoccupied with politics.

Blanche pointed out the many lost opportunities to govern in recent years and emphasized our responsibility in Washington to move forward. I share her vision of teamwork, and it’s been an honor and pleasure to work with her to reach across aisles to get things done.

Both Blanche and I are proud supporters of renewable fuels development and have both served as chair of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus. I look forward to working with her and my other colleagues on the upcoming 2007 Farm Bill. I am optimistic that as we approach this and many other important pieces of legislation, our colleagues will also recognize the difference between governing and politicking. Only then can we end the right vs left tug-of-war and begin funneling our energy into moving America forward.

As I travel the district and talk to the farmers I represent, one issue comes up again and again in conversation: grain prices.  Farmers will tell you they’re pretty happy not only because grain prices are going up, but because they’re rising during harvest, which almost never happens. It’s not a modest rise, either.  Corn prices are up 50 cents a bushel in the last three weeks!

The reason for the spike?  Experts say it’s because of the anticipated demand for ethanol created by the 2005 energy bill.  Our Energy Policy Act nearly doubled the standard for renewable fuel consumption, ensuring there would be a market for ethanol and biodiesel.  The results will be cleaner air and, as we’re already seeing, higher farm prices.

I advocate we continue to build on the success of the 2005 energy bill by increasing the Renewable Fuel Standard to 25 billion gallons a year by 2025.  While there’s more work to do, it is clear our efforts are showing positive results.

The following is a joint post from the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Agriculture Committee, Va. GOP Rep. Bob Goodlatte and Minn. Dem. Rep. Collin Peterson:

Despite the decline in gasoline prices, asserting our nation’s energy independence continues to be a challenge. To move us closer toward the goal of greater energy independence, the House of Representatives recently passed a resolution that established a goal of producing 25 percent of the all energy consumed in the U.S. on America’s farms, ranches and forests by the year 2025, an initiative known as 25x’25 (H. Con. Res. 424).

The resolution recognizes the need for a sustainable, safe, and reliable energy supply and enjoys wide bipartisan support in the House Agriculture Committee and in the House and the Senate. A broad coalition of agriculture, industry, environmental leaders, as well as several governors and state legislators have also rallied around the 25x’25 Resolution.

Expanding production and use of renewable fuels opens new markets for agriculture producers, provides consumers with a safe, sustainable, environmentally friendly, and renewable source of energy, and decreases our nation’s dependency on foreign oil, reducing the negative effects of severe spikes in oil prices on consumers.

Read more...

Yesterday the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicted what Americans will spend to heat their homes this winter. For households using natural gas, consumers can expect to pay $826, down from a record $945 last winter. But this modest decline is cold comfort when costs have nearly doubled in five years: they were $465 in the winter of 2001-2002, $600 in 2002-2003, $659 in 2003-2004, and $741 in 2004-2005. Natural gas is the most widely used winter heating fuel in the United States, used by 58 percent of all U.S. households.

This winter’s small cost break follows an unusual combination of events – curtailed production after last year’s hurricanes and a record warm winter that dramatically reduced consumption. But make no mistake, the natural gas crisis hasn’t gone anywhere. Natural gas prices continue their march upward, U.S. jobs are being shed by the millions, and the nation’s competitiveness, economy and security remain at risk – due in large measure to current federal energy policies.

The nation simply can no longer afford a ‘fair weather’ energy policy under which a warm winter represents our only relief from steadily rising energy prices. Instead, what residential and industrial energy consumers need is for Congress to change federal energy policies so that Americans have greater access to our own abundant natural gas supplies in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Decades-old energy policies have placed 85 percent of these supplies off-limits while demand rises – driving natural gas prices higher and making the nation less competitive internationally. Every American pays the price for these irrational and outdated policies. Read more...

My opponent has talked a lot about making Montana a leader in this country's energy production, but his record doesn't match his rhetoric. Just in the last week, KTVQ in Billings broke the story on Jon Tester's vote against HB 495, introduced by State Representative Alan Olson (R-Roundup) and Jim Keane (D-Butte) in 2001, that allowed the Bull Mountain coal mine to be reopened and become a coal-to-liquids power plant as Governor Brian Schweitzer announced last Monday.

But you'd never know my opponent opposed legislation that allowed the Bull Mountain mine to re-open from the glowing praise he's heaped on the project in recent days. The bill that Tester voted against in 2001, HB 495, allowed revoked coal-mine permits to transfer to new owners without having to go through the entire re-permitting process.  While the new permit holders still were required to follow all public safety and environmental requirements, it significantly sped up the process for the mine to re-open for business.

Without the Olson-Keane bill, the Bull Mountain coal-to-liquids plant would not be a reality for Montanans. Tester's vote against this bill put his extreme environmental agenda ahead of creating 4,200 new jobs and $34 million in additional annual tax revenue for Montana.  To put in context how extreme his position is, the bill he voted against passed the Montana House 96-4 and the Senate 41-7, and was supported by 83% of Democrats.

It saddens me that my opponent would put his extreme agenda ahead of the well being of Montana. The Northern Plains Resource Council, an environmental group that says Tester votes with them 92% of the time, is one of the very groups trying to stop the Bull Mountain coal-to-liquids plant from re-opening.   It's hard to take Jon Tester at his word when he's got these same extreme environmentalists backing his bid for Senate.

It is important to point out the energy bill because of the emphasis on alternative energy sources – renewables, bio-fuels, ethanol, and soy diesel. Those are critical issues. Now they may seem a little less critical, when gas is going at two dollars per gallon for some people, but the high cost of natural gas, for example, contributes to the high cost of fertilizer. So this is a lingering issue in the state of Nebraska, both for rural and urban communities.

The highway bill is another important one. Highways are important in the state of Nebraska. We are geographically challenged – broad expanses and low population density. You ask the people of Nebraska how important roads are to them and they will tell you, “Very.