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Pelosi: Energy Bill is a Missed Opportunity, Still Anti-Taxpayer, Anti-Consumer, and Anti-Environment

July 28, 2005

Pelosi: Energy Bill is a Missed Opportunity, Still Anti-Taxpayer, Anti-Consumer, and Anti-Environment

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. â€" House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in opposition to the joint House-Senate energy bill conference report that passed in the House this afternoon:

â€Å"The American people need and deserve an energy policy that will reduce energy prices, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and reduce pollution. Unfortunately this bill is not the answer.

â€Å"While it is an improvement over the original House bill, it is not good enough for the American people. Several of the most egregious provisions have been removed, thanks to the tireless work of the Democrats who served on the conference committee.

â€Å"We kept the heat on the MTBE give-away and the massive roll-back of the Clean Air Act until they were withdrawn. We fought to protect the Arctic National Refuge, making it too hot for the Republicans to handle â€" forcing them to withdraw from the energy bill their plan to drill in the pristine wilderness.

â€Å"Nonetheless, like its predecessors, this energy bill is a missed opportunity. It does not address the issues that the American people care about â€" lower gas prices at the pump, a healthy environment, safe water to drink, and cleaner air. This bill is still anti-taxpayer, anti-consumer, and anti-environment.

â€Å"It is anti-taxpayer with billions of dollars in gifts to the oil, gas, and nuclear industries, including a new production tax credit for eight years.

â€Å"Then there is the special gift for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. After the gavel went down on the energy bill conference, a provision was included that sets up a special $1.5 billion fund for the oil industry to conduct research on how to find oil, and a leading contender to host the consortium is Sugar Land, Texas. Consortium members, including Halliburton and Marathon Oil, can receive awards from the fund. There you have it: big oil, Halliburton, and Tom DeLay, all in one neat symbolic package.

â€Å"At a time when Congress is trying to scrape together enough federal funding for veterans’ health care, Social Security, education, Medicare, and Medicaid, why are we giving away taxpayer money hand over fist to well-established, profitable companies?

â€Å"The energy bill is anti-consumer. It fails to protect consumers from high gasoline prices. It fails to adequately protect consumers from price manipulations and future Enrons. And it fails to protect our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

â€Å"Last but not least, this bill is anti-environment. It carves out exemptions for the oil and gas industry from the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Clean Water Act. It also authorizes an oil and gas inventory of the Outer Continental Shelf, opening the door to oil and gas drilling in the protected areas off our shores.”