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U.S.
Senator Ken Salazar
Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees
2300 15th
Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO
80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C.
20510
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SEN. SALAZAR
VOTES FOR FULL ENERGY BILL AS KEY STEP TOWARD ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
WASHINGTON, D.C. – United
States Senator Ken Salazar today voted for passage of the
Senate Energy bill. The bill passed by a vote of 85-12 with broad bipartisan
support. Sen. Salazar helped craft much of the energy bill as a member
of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
“This bill makes great strides
toward gaining our energy independence and setting America free from
overdependence on foreign imports of oil,” said Salazar. “The bill’s
cornerstones are renewable energy, conservation, technology and balanced
development. And here in the Senate the bill passed with the kind of
bipartisan cooperation I promised the people of Colorado -- I’m proud
to deliver on that promise today,” Sen. Salazar said.
Salazar continued, “the
challenge we face now is continuing that bipartisan work as the House
and Senate work out their differences in Conference. If the bipartisan
spirit continues I can see no reason why we can’t send a bill to the
President before August.”
The bill includes a number
of provisions in which Senator Salazar played a key role and which will
directly benefit Coloradans, including:
- Renewable Energy: The
Senate’s Energy bill includes a provision to increase America’s ethanol
use to 8 billion gallons by 2012, mirroring a proposal Sen. Salazar
offered while the bill was in the Energy committee. Ethanol plants
are planned for Evans and Windsor and Sterling. Senator Salazar was
also a cosponsor of the amendment passed on June 16 establishing the
nation’s first Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to require 10 percent
of America’s electricity be generated from renewable resources by
2020. Renewable resources include solar, hydropower and geothermal,
as well as wind energy, such as that generated by the wind farm in
Lamar. The proposal was similar to Amendment 37, the clean energy/
renewable portfolio standard approved by Colorado voters in 2004;
- Colorado’s Coal Resources:
The Senate’s Energy bill also includes coal legislation that will
allow Colorado to better develop its clean-energy resources. Under
Sen. Salazar’s amendment approved by the Senate on June 23, Colorado
coal will now be included as part of a high-altitude (above 4,000
feet) test program for integrated coal gasification (IGCC) technology,
a cleaner use of coal. Coal accounts for 80 percent of Colorado’s
electrical needs;
- Oil Shale: On June 23,
the Senate unanimously approved Sen. Salazar’s oil shale development
amendment. Aware of the boom-bust cycle of oil shale development on
the Western Slope in the 1980s, Sen. Salazar carefully tailored his
proposal to require the Dept. of Energy to work with Coloradans who
will be affected by this effort. It requires the Dept. of Energy to
develop a long-term plan for oil shale development and refuses to
set mandatory timelines for development, preventing a repeat of the
1980s oil shale rush. Colorado’s oil shale is home to an estimated
1 trillion barrels of oil. By comparison, the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge (ANWR) contains 7.7 billion barrels of oil – one percent of
Colorado’s oil shale reserves. Sen. Salazar’s oil shale legislation
has been praised by Western Resource Advocates and the Wilderness
Society; and
- Tax Incentives: The Senate
Energy bill included a number of tax incentives to benefit Colorado
consumers, including a production tax credit for energy producers
to promote clean energy development and a 20 percent investment tax
credit for investments in clean coal technology, a $1,000 to $2,000
tax credit for contractors constructing energy-efficient homes and
a 10 percent energy tax credit for homeowners making energy efficiency
improvements to their homes, as well as expanded tax credits for alternative
vehicles and electric vehicles.
“This bill is a win for
Colorado consumers, Colorado’s rural communities and Colorado’s land
and water. It is balanced and forward thinking and will help set America
free from its dependence on foreign energy sources,” Sen. Salazar said.
“I hope the House does not insist on putting in poison pills – as it
has in the past – that will only serve to undo these wins for Colorado.”
The Energy bill has now
been passed, in dramatically different forms, by the House and Senate.
It next proceeds to conference committee to iron out differences before
being voted upon a second time by both the House and Senate. If the
House and Senate both approve the conference report, it will go on to
the President’s desk for signature or veto.
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