textfiles-politics/politicalTextFiles/energy.txt

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      CLINTON/GORE ON NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY



For twelve years, the Republicans in Washington
have undermined our national security and cut short
our economic growth because they haven't had a
national energy policy.  In the last decade, 8,000
of our independent oil and gas producers have
closed their doors; 300,000 Americans have lost
their jobs.  Of 4,500 domestic drilling rigs
operating in the United States in 1981 when Ronald
Reagan and George Bush took office, less than 700
remain in operation today.  We've fallen behind our
competitors in energy efficiency and are in danger
of leaving future generations of Americans in a
precarious position of overwhelming debt and
dependence.

America needs a new national energy policy that
enables Americans to control Americas energy
future.  Instead of coddling special interests
whose fortunes depend on Americas addiction to
foreign oil, the Clinton/Gore national energy
policy promotes national security, energy
diversity, economic prosperity, and environmental
protection.

It's time to make the right energy choices.

Increase energy efficiency and conservation

*    Increase corporate average fuel economy
     standards from the current 27.5 miles per
     gallon to 40-45 miles per gallon.

*    Develop and implement revenue-neutral market
     incentives that reward conservation and
     penalize polluters and energy-wasters.

*    Adopt transportation strategies and highway
     spending programs that encourage car-pooling,
     high-efficiency highway technology, and mass
     transit by including conservation incentives
     in the federal matching fund program.

*    Promote changes in utility regulation to make
     energy efficiency profitable for both
     utilities and customers.

*    Strengthen federal programs to encourage
     energy-efficient housing, and to encourage
     state and local governments to adopt building
     codes that encourage conservation by calling
     for thicker walls and windows, new compact
     florescent bulbs, more efficient insulation
     and new low-cost housing construction that
     could cut domestic energy consumption by 25
     percent using measures that would pay for
     themselves in 5 to 7 years.

*    Increase energy efficiency in every federal
     agency and set standards to insure that
     federal grants, contracts, and projects
     support Americas national conservation goals.

Increase natural gas use

*    Implement policies to expand markets for
     natural gas in every sector homes, businesses,
     industry, electrical generation, and
     transportation.

*    Speed development and certification of new
     natural gas pipelines to get natural gas to
     market, with special emphasis on areas not
     currently adequately served by natural gas.

*    Convert the enormous federal vehicle fleet to
     natural gas.

*    Use federal research and development dollars
     to develop new natural gas applications.

Expand the use of renewable energy sources

*    Create a civilian advanced research agency
     that will support civilian research and
     development of renewable technologies and
     renewable fuel programs.

*    Reorient the mission of hundreds of national
     laboratories, moving from defense R&D to more
     work on commercial renewable energy projects.

*    Change the tax code to create greater
     incentives for renewable energy use.

*    Give incentives to utilities to adopt least
     cost planning,  which factors environmental,
     social and economic costs into fuel-use
     decisions.  Least-cost planning is currently
     employed by utility companies in 17 states.

A safe, environmentally sound energy policy

*    Oppose increased reliance on nuclear power.
     There is good reason to believe that we can
     meet future energy needs -- with conservation
     and the use of alternative fuels -- without
     having to face the staggering costs, delays
     and uncertainties of nuclear waste disposal.

*    Oppose federal excise gas tax increases.
     Instead of a back-breaking federal gas tax, we
     should try conservation, increased use of
     natural gas, and increased use of alternative
     fuels.

*    Prohibit drilling in the Arctic National
     Wildlife Refuge in Alaska: work to expand the
     ANWR to include the 1.5 acre Arctic Coastal
     Plain while ensuring that Native Americans are
     able to use these lands for traditional
     subsistence hunting and fishing.  Increased
     energy efficiency and the use of natural gas
     currently available in the lower 48 states can
     easily negate the need for ANWR drilling.

*    In Governor Clinton's first term in 1979, he
     created a state Department of Energy which
     emphasized renewable resource development,
     reduced institutional barriers to energy
     conservation and encouraged the development of
     new energy sources.

*    Established an Alternative Fuels Commission.

*    Arkansas ranks 10th in the nation in energy
     research spending.

*    Gore amendments enacted by the Senate as part
     of the 1992 energy bill:

     !    Help small businesses increase their
          energy efficiency and cut their energy
          bills by establishing energy diagnostic
          centers where engineering students and
          their professors can work with small
          businesses.

     !    Accelerate the government's efforts to
          procure the most energy efficient
          products and to provide grant money to
          states to fund energy efficiency and
          conservation initiatives.

     !    Require the Tennessee Valley Authority of
          conduct least-cost planning analyses of
          energy supply and demand requirements.

     !    Provides assistance to states to develop
          energy conservation and renewable energy
          initiatives.

*    Senator Gore was a leader in the successful
     efforts to kill provisions  that would have
     allowed drilling in the Arctic National
     Wildlife Refuge.

*    Led efforts in the 1991 Interior
     Appropriations for solar and renewable joint
     venture programs.

*    Senator Gore introduced legislation to involve
     America's national labs in developing and
     disseminating energy efficient technologies
     and practices.