Sen. Bingaman (D-NM)
on the
H.R. 6 Energy Bill Conference
“The energy conference report is not perfect, but it’s a good bill. In many respects, it moves our country in the right direction in meeting its future energy needs by encouraging more domestic production and also greater use of renewables. It pushes forward on developing and commercializing new technologies on the supply side that will be cleaner than what we now use, and pushes equally hard on promoting greater efficiency in the way we currently use our energy. Additionally, it sets us on the right path toward modernizing our electricity laws, strengthening the reliability of our electricity grid and protecting ratepayers from market abuses.
“Unfortunately, the bill contains some questionable environmental provisions. It also does not go as far as I would have liked, or others may have liked, to address some of the biggest energy problems our nation faces. We have yet, as a Congress, to take the politically difficult steps needed to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, improve vehicle fuel efficiency or deal with global warming. A bill with those steps is not in the cards at this time. But what the Senate will consider, on balance, improves our energy policy and deserves to be enacted.
“Much of the credit for the success of this conference goes to my colleague, Sen. Pete Domenici, to Conference Chairman Joe Barton and to Congressman John Dingell. I applaud their leadership and efforts to ensure that this conference was fair, open, and bipartisan, from start to finish. The end result is much better because of that approach, and I look forward to voting for this bill.”
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Bill Wicker
Democratic Communications Director
Senate Energy & Natural Resources
202.224.5243
