On August 8th, President George W. Bush signed the Domenici-Barton Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law. This Act will serve as the basis for a long-term, comprehensive energy plan for our nation. For the last several years, I have worked on energy legislation with my colleagues in the Senate, and I am pleased to have supported passage of this bill.

The national energy plan provides Alabama and the nation great opportunities through new policies, tax incentives and critical research funding. While this energy plan will not immediately reduce our fuel costs, I do believe that over time the programs and policy decisions in this law will directly impact our nation's ability to be energy independent and to more directly control the cost of energy.

The Energy Policy Act includes many critical provisions to ensure the reliability of our electrical transmission grid. I have long supported reliability standards and my interest in including such provisions in legislation was strengthened following the Northeast Blackout in 2003. In addition to the new reliability standards, there are also provisions that will promote critical investment in the transmission grid to further boost reliability. Additionally, the bill includes critical consumer protections to ensure that electricity customers receive uninterrupted service.

For many years, Alabama has benefited from natural gas production. The Energy Policy Act includes a number of provisions that will allow Alabama to continue to prosper from its natural resources both on land and in state and federal waters off our coast. This legislation will allow the Department of Interior to conduct a survey of our oil and gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. When the survey is completed, we will have a much better picture of the assets and opportunities that are available to the nation and the State of Alabama.

The bill also includes unprecedented language that will provide Alabama and other coastal states involved in energy production a share of the revenues from oil and gas production in federal waters. For years, revenues produced from federal lands were split evenly between the state and the federal governments while those produced offshore were not afforded the same treatment. The revenue sharing provisions included in the bill are an important step towards providing similar consideration to offshore energy production. The provision will provide Alabama and its coastal counties with over $16 million a year for the next four years. These funds can be used for coastal conservation, master planning, and infrastructure improvements.

In addition, the bill includes an important provision to clarify the process of hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a safe and well-established method of capturing methane that has built up in coal seams throughout Alabama. The language removes constraints put on the coalbed methane industry that threatened to shut down production of critical natural gas in Alabama.

The issue of liquefied natural gas or LNG was a prominent part of the discussions about a comprehensive energy plan and an area of great interest in Alabama. Even with the important new energy efficiency and alternative fuel source research and tax incentives provided in the Energy Policy Act, LNG is a critical part of our nation's long term energy needs. With that consideration, I supported language in the final bill that clarifies the process for siting LNG facilities. I believe this language is critical to our nation's energy plan. However, like many Alabamians, I was concerned that the new streamlined process would cut state and local entities out of the process. For that reason, I worked diligently to have language that Chairman Domenici and I drafted included to ensure state and local governments have a seat at the table so their voices will be heard. I believe that the LNG language strikes the necessary balance between the national interest and the concerns of state and local governments.

The bill also contains numerous production incentives and research programs that, I believe, will help the nation leverage its resources, both natural and in the capabilities of our nation's research community. In an effort to promote energy efficiency throughout all sectors of our environment, the Energy Policy Act also contains provisions that could collectively reduce the future growth of our country's energy needs by as much as 40 percent. These provisions include new efficiency standards for new homes, manufactured homes and appliances, as well as tax incentives for use of energy efficient products.

I am pleased to have supported the first comprehensive energy policy passed by Congress in over a decade. The Energy Policy Act reflects our nation's commitment to increasing our energy independence through diverse measures in order to end our reliability on foreign sources of oil.