Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008 - Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

CONSUMER-FIRST ENERGY ACT OF 2008--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - June 11, 2008)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MARTINEZ. Mr. President, I want to speak on this issue, the energy problem we find ourselves in, and I want to begin by a moment of reflection upon the problems described by my dear colleague from Minnesota.

The fact is, the more we can find a way to work together and the less we make clever rhetorical points about whether one party is on full or another is on empty, or anything else, the quicker we will get to a solution. The fact is, we are not going to find solution to the energy problem in America by doing it as Democrats or Republicans. We are going to find it by working together as Americans.

We all know when the minority is not permitted the opportunity to impact a bill by amendments there is not a real debate taking place and, therefore, our ideas, the ideas of 49 Members of this Senate, are not worth considering. We all know that is not the way the Senate legislates. That is not the way to do things when you are serious about an outcome and not just looking to make political points.

We are, for sure, in the midst of an energy crisis like nothing we have seen in recent times. A gallon of gas is more than $4 a gallon, with diesel more than $5, and natural gas prices continue to rise. These high prices are putting an unexpected and heavy burden on millions of American families. As I talk with Floridians, it is clear that people are feeling the pain and families are hurting. The rising costs are digging into the family budget.

In addition to high energy costs, we are also in the midst of increasing food costs and putting an even greater strain on families who are growing increasingly anxious.

They want and deserve solutions. They don't want and don't deserve partisan bickering.

There are a number of factors impacting the price of gas--including the influence of speculators and the weak dollar.

We are seeing a large and increasing demand for fuel while supplies remain stagnant.

Since the automobile was invented, it took the United States until the early 1980s to reach 100 million cars. In China, the same thing happened in less than 15 years. According to the International Energy Agency, Chinese oil imports are expected to rise 80 percent in the next 4 years.

And by the way, we know the Chinese are looking for ways to increase their own oil production--but despite what is cited as fact here on the Senate floor on frequent occasions, China is not drilling off the coast of Cuba. I have taken the time to research this issue because of my own interest in this area of the world.

According to the Congressional Research Service, China only owns one plot where they could explore. It is this little green spot. Whether it is under production or not is not clear, but it is not offshore--it is on the island itself. According to University of Miami Center for Hemispheric Policy fellow Jorge Pinon, there is no drilling taking place offshore in Cuba by the Chinese or any other country.

Reports to the contrary are false; they are rumor; they are akin to urban legends. China is not drilling for oil 60 miles from the Florida Keys. There is one oil company--Spanish Respol RTF--that has purchased one lease off of Cuba's shore and there is no current drilling or even plans to drill in the forseeable future. There is the possibility that the Canadians may have something happening there, but I am not aware of that either.

So any talk of using some fabricated China/Cuba connection as an argument to change U.S. policy has no merit.

To address the supply side of the equation, one solution I have always favored involves using our existing natural resources to increase domestic production.

Congress has made some progress in this area in recent years, but more needs to be done.

Offshore drilling is one area where we have made progress. In 2006, I helped to negotiate the opening of more than 8 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of negotiations and conversations on a bipartisan basis here in the Senate.

The area is estimated to contain up to 5.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 1.25 billion barrels of oil. That is a tremendous amount of resources in areas open to drilling right this minute, all as a result of an agreement Senator NELSON and I made, protecting Florida's beaches yet understanding the need to open up this area of the Gulf.

While 8 million acres have been opened in the Gulf, to date no exploration has taken place. I know they are still in the process of leasing, but to date we have had no product out of that area. It makes sense to me that we would go here first, well away from Florida's beaches, before this area, where we also have a military mission area to protect.

I hope that before we talk about opening areas closer to our beaches, that we will first attempt to get to the one billion barrels of oil already available in the Gulf.

Another promising domestic resource is in ANWR in Alaska.

Five different times during my Senate career, I have voted to open this remote area for oil exploration. It is environmentally safe, the people of Alaska favor it, and our country needs it.

I will continue to support efforts to obtain resources from the area.

The size of the land we are talking about for exploration is merely 2,000 acres within 19.6 million acres of wilderness--that is the virtual equivalent of a quarter on a football field.

Estimates indicate this area in Alaska contains approximately 10.4 billion barrels, meaning we could have another one million barrels of oil coming into the U.S. supply every day for decades.

I will continue to support increasing the U.S. domestic production as long as it is supported by those most directly impacted by it.

Along with working to increase the U.S. oil exploration efforts, there is also a tremendous need to build more oil refineries.

Part of the reason why our oil supplies are stretched thin is because despite the rise in demand for gasoline, a new fuel refinery has not been built in three decades.

Once crude oil is shipped from overseas, it still has to be refined.

With so few oil refineries in this country and the demand so high, this results in a bottleneck and further contributes to the domestic demand that is outstripping supply.

We can do a great deal more in the short term to alleviate the burden high gas prices are having on America's families.

An integral part of any energy plan moving forward has to focus a heavy emphasis on conservation. We are not going to drill our way to energy independence.

We have to have a comprehensive approach: more exploration, more conservation, renewables, biofuels, and new technologies.

We are paying high prices at the pump for that demand, and it is also something we are paying for environmentally. I think there is huge promise in answering some of our energy demands and contributing to a cleaner environment by investing in alternative fuels.

Most people are familiar with ethanol--but I think that is just the first step. Florida's research universities have been working on cellulosic ethanol, which is a second generation biofuel.

This process generates fuel from orange peels, grass clippings, corn stalks--not the corn but the waste after the corn is gone. Any sort of organic material that has carbon in it can be turned into fuel.

One thing should be clear--it is that the tension on the world's oil market is not going to lessen anytime soon and the need to lessen the U.S. dependence on foreign oil could not be any greater.

Frankly, this Congress has been absent on the matter.

The fact is, although we talk about President Bush and what he has and has not done, we have an obligation to act as well. The fact is, when the Democrats took over the Congress the price of oil was $2 a gallon; today it is over $4 and going up. We have to put down the partisan rhetoric. We have to come back to the fact that we must come together, work together, Republicans and Democrats, to do what serious legislating usually can accomplish when people of good faith come together to get something done.

I invite my dear friend and colleague, the Presiding Officer today, to find ways we might work together so we can help American families. I know there are many things on which we can agree. We ought to try to diminish the points of disagreement and find the common ground and move forward to a better energy future for our country so we might leave the kind of legacy for our children that I know is the reason we came here to the Senate in the first place.

I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source