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Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008

Date: Feb. 27, 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Conservative Energy Natural Resources


RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY CONSERVATION TAX ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - February 27, 2008)

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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to oppose this bill. It doesn't produce one bit of energy. It does not generate one kilowatt of electricity. It does not move us toward energy independence. Certainly those are things that need to be a priority when we discuss energy.

Now the price of a barrel of oil, we have talked about that today. It is topping $100, but where was it a year ago? It was at $56 for a barrel of oil.

I like to talk about what that means to my consumers and the impact that has on my constituents in my district. We have seen the price of a gallon of gas go up 75 cents per gallon in the Seventh District of Tennessee over the past year. Let's say a typical mom in Tennessee's Seventh Congressional District fills up her 15-gallon tank once a week. That is $47 per fill-up. Every month she is spending $44 more on that gasoline than she was last February. The difference for the year is $528 more coming out of her pocket to pay the additional energy cost.

Now, there is a bill before us that would tax energy companies and stop new domestic oil and gas production and discourage new investments in refinery capacity. Instead of making America more energy secure, we are seeing things that would drive us to be more dependent on sources from Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and other nations.

It would be great if we were to have a debate on revolutionizing energy and revolutionary energy legislation. But, in reality, the legislation we are discussing today does not alleviate the strain on the consumers. It would be great if we were talking about energy independence. It would be great if we were talking about increasing refinery capacity and if we were going to look at short-term, mid-range, and long-term solutions to our Nation's energy needs.

I would encourage all to oppose this bill. Let's talk about solving the energy problem.

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