American Clean Energy And Security Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. WEINER. The chairman will be recognized for generations to come for confronting the challenges that we face. You know, the fact of the matter is that the EPA, under a court's decision, is going to have the ability to write these regulations. We're taking the responsibility to do it here in this Congress. The fact of the matter is, despite some of the contrarian views on this floor, there is a real global crisis that we face. Despite the objections of my colleagues on the other side, there is a need to create new jobs, and this bill would create 1.7 million of them. But I want to give you one other reason that we should support this change in our policy. Ahmadinejad, the Saudi kingdom, they want exactly what my Republican friends are advocating--Don't do anything. Keep pumping the same amount of petroleum. Keep using

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the same amount of oil. Every time we put the pump to our gas tanks, we are helping the tyrants in Iran and the tyrants in Saudi Arabia export their terrorism. Why do we keep doing it? We need to change our behavior, and this bill recognizes it. It reduces carbon emissions and makes our Earth safer, of course; but it also creates new jobs and takes away the lifeblood to these terrorist regimes. We can't come to the floor and say I'm outraged at what's going on in Iran, I'm outraged at what's going on around the world with the exporting of terrorism and then continue the same policies where we pay for them. That's what our present policy does. Our policies are paying for the terrorists around the world, whether we like it or not. The American people understand that. We need energy independence. We need a thriving economy that creates 1.7 million new jobs. We need to reduce the carbon emissions, despite the fact that still some people in this House deny it's a necessity. We need to act, and that's what the Democrats are doing.

GLOBAL WARMING WOW FACTS

The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years. Source: Inconvenient Truth

Average global temperatures could increase 11 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, with greater overall increases in the United States exceeding global averages, Source: US Global Change Research Program

By 2030, local temperatures in NYC could rise by two degrees. This compounds an existing problem, known as the ``urban heat island effect.'' This is due to the fact the NYC's urban infrastructure absorbing and retaining heat. As a result, NYC is often four to seven degrees warmer than the surrounding suburbs, Source: PlaNYC 2030

KEY PROVISIONS IN THE BILL

Keep costs low for American families: the bill directs 15% of the allowances be auctioned with the proceeds going to consumers through a combination of refundable tax credits and electronic benefit payments. EPA and C130 estimate that the bill will cost American families less than 50 cents per day.

Bill will cut foreign dependence on oil: Would require electric utilities to meet 20% of their electricity demand through renewable energy sources and energy efficiency by 2020.

Cut Greenhouse gases: Bill reduces carbon emissions from major U.S. sources by 17% by 2020 and over 80% by 2050 compared to 2005 levels.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

The stimulus bill and the energy bill will create 1.7 million new clean energy jobs nationwide, Source: Center for American Progress

The energy efficiency provisions alone in the Waxman-Markey bill will generate 770,000 jobs nationwide by 2030. Source: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

Clean-energy investments create over 16 jobs for every $1 million in spending. Spending on fossil fuels, by contrast, generates 5 jobs per $1 million in spending. Source: Center for American Progress

NYS will see 109,000 new jobs and a net increase of about $10 billion in clean-energy investments. Source: Center for American Progress

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