U.S. Senator Ken Salazar Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees 2300 15^th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510
For Immediate Release July 29, 2005		CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Press Secretary 202-228-3630 Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary 303-455-7600
SEN. SALAZAR STATEMENT ON ENERGY BILL FINAL PASSAGE: “NOT PERFECT…BUT IMPORTANT FIRST STEP” WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Ken Salazar released the following statement regarding the final passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which passed the Senate today by a vote of 74 to 26: “I recognize that the energy conference report constitutes a compromise between competing House and Senate approaches to addressing our nation’s energy needs. As with all compromises, the report is not perfect. But it is important as a first step forward, and I support its final passage. I am pleased with many aspects of the energy bill. It retains incentives for new, cleaner technologies, and incentives for energy efficiency and conservation. The bill improves and establishes new electric reliability standards. It contains incentives for the production of wind and other renewable energy, and a renewable fuels standard (RFS) to promote the production and use of American-grown renewable energy sources such as ethanol and biodiesel. By promoting the development of additional sources of energy and to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels, the Senate’s bi-partisan work on the energy bill was more comprehensive and more forward-thinking in beginning to address our energy source and consumption crisis. I am disappointed, for example, that the House and Senate conferees did not retain the Senate’s national renewable energy standard, and that other strategies and policies for reducing our dependence on foreign oil are not included in the final bill. Conferees also decided to take a more aggressive stance on oil shale development than I and my Senate colleagues had advocated and they rolled back certain environmental protections. These changes could negatively impact Colorado’s Western Slope, and I will monitor their implementation closely. There is much more we need to do to ensure greater independence from foreign oil. Greater energy independence is vital to protect our national security—and is also good for Colorado’s economy. We are home to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and to countless companies and entrepreneurs working on developing alternative fuels, including wind, biofuels, solar, and many other clean energy technologies. There is work to do to establish a viable national renewable energy standard, to promote oil savings, to adopt a responsible climate change policy, increased production of renewable fuels, and greater energy efficiency, and conservation. I look forward to working with my fellow Coloradans and colleagues in the Senate to address these energy independence priorities.” # # #