Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
12/05/2007
Pelosi to Hubbard: Bipartisan Energy Legislation Addresses White House Concerns
“We have crafted legislation that addresses the areas of
concern raised in your letter, and this bipartisan legislation has earned the
strong support of leaders in the business, labor, faith, and environmental
communities across the nation,” Pelosi wrote in response to correspondence from
Mr. Hubbard.
Below is a text of the letter:
December 5, 2007
Mr. Allan B. Hubbard
Dear Mr. Hubbard:
Thank you again for your correspondence reiterating the
Administration’s commitment to work with the Congress to improve
“The Energy Independence and Security Act” addresses the
specific issues you have raised with earlier versions of the legislation:
· Our
legislation will contain an ambitious national renewable fuel standard that
will significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil;
· Our
legislation will “reform and strengthen the fuel economy standard” for cars and
trucks, setting a tight goal of 35 miles per gallon as a fleetwide average by 2020;
· Our bill
will “increase domestic energy production” by promoting homegrown renewable
fuels and domestic renewable energy;
· Our bill
will not contain specific provisions that would affect our relations with other
countries;
· Our bill
will not impose price controls;
· Our bill
will not significantly expand the application of Davis-Bacon prevailing wage
requirements.
These decisions address most of the issues you raised with
respect to our energy security legislation, although some issues remain.
· In keeping
with the Congress’ strong commitment to “pay as you go” – no new deficit
spending – we pay for our investments in domestic renewable energy resources by
closing tax loopholes given to large oil and gas companies at a time that they
are reporting record profits.
· Our
legislation contains a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) which requires
states to derive a percentage of their energy from renewable sources. As you know, more than half the states
already have such a Renewable Portfolio Standard. In fact, President Bush signed into law the
mandatory RES law in
Our CAFE automobile efficiency reforms – the first in more
than 30 years – take a dramatic step towards freeing us from dependence on
foreign fuels, saving American families $700 - $1,000 per year at the pump ($22
billion in net consumer savings in 2020 alone), reducing oil consumption by 1.1
million barrels per day in 2020 (one-half our current Persian Gulf imports),
and slashing greenhouse gases equivalent to removing 28 million cars and trucks
from the road.
We have crafted legislation that addresses the areas of
concern raised in your letter, and this bipartisan legislation has earned the
strong support of leaders in the business, labor, faith, and environmental
communities across the nation. “The
Energy Independence and Security Act” is a balanced and broadly supported bill
that addresses urgent national priorities in a responsible and timely
manner. Thank you for your consideration
of the major steps we have taken and I very much hope that the President will
sign this bipartisan legislation.
Speaker of the House