As the new home of Iowa PIRG's environmental work, Environment Iowa can be contacted with any questions regarding this news release.
For the past three years,
the Bush administration and Congress have been promoting an energy plan that
is dirty, dangerous and does not deliver for consumers. Over the fall, an energy
bill was constructed behind closed doors. This past week, the House and Senate
conference committees finalized the bill and it was passed last night by the
House. The Senate will likely vote on the bill either today or tomorrow.
The energy bill that has
just emerged from behind closed doors began with the Bush-Cheney energy plan
that was developed behind closed doors. It's no surprise that the big winner
is big oil. The big loser is anyone who breathes, pays a utility bill or drinks
water. Senator Harkin should kill this bill.
Iowa needs an energy policy
that protects our water quality and our pocketbooks. The energy bill lets oil
companies off the hook for groundwater contamination with the gas additive MTBE,
shifting millions of dollars in cleanup costs from polluters to local taxpayers.
Here in Iowa, we have 2,704 sites that are contaminated with this probable human
carcinogen. With this bill, taxpayers are left paying to clean up the oil companies'
mess.
Iowa needs an energy policy
that makes our electricity supply more reliable and prevents future Enron-type
scandals, but the energy conferees have produced a bill that increases the risk
of future blackouts and allows more energy market manipulation by energy companies.
Iowa needs an energy plan that promotes clean, efficient, Iowa-grown renewable
energy like wind and solar power, but the energy conferees have produced a bill
that subsidizes the same old polluting oil and coal industries, while leaving
out entirely a renewable energy standard that would have guaranteed real increases
in renewable energy production.
For both economic and national
security reasons, we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but the energy
conferees failed to increase fuel economy standards at all.
Iowa needs an energy plan that protects the environment, but the energy conferees
have produced a bill that would allow more drilling on pristine public lands
and pave the way for damaging oil and gas exploration off our coasts.
Iowa needs an energy plan
that cuts global warming, but the energy conferees have produced a bill that
completely ignores the threat of global warming.
For all these reasons, Senator
Harkin should kill this energy bill.
