Sen. Bond says Democrats rejecting energy exploration in own 'back yard'

Sen. Bond says Democrats rejecting energy exploration in own 'back yard'

A member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee says the Senate energy bill passed last night offers the wrong solutions to record high gas prices.

The bill, which passed by a 65-27 vote shortly before midnight on Thursday, calls for raising fuel efficiency standards to 35 miles per gallon for cars and light trucks by 2020. It also calls for a four percent rise in fuel efficiency each year after 2020, and requires that use of biofuels climb to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Other provisions include penalties for price-gouging, government powers for investigating oil companies' pricing, and promotion of research into fuel-efficient vehicles. The measure must still pass the U.S. House.

While Democrats are hopeful the legislation will be a rallying point for voters who are concerned about the environment and high gasoline prices, Senator Kit Bond (R-Missouri) says the energy bill has no provisions to increase domestic energy production or lessen America's reliance on foreign oil.

"For the last several decades our energy policy has been NIMBY, or 'Not In My Back Yard,'" says Bond. He laments that "no new refineries or clean nuclear plants have been built since the 1970s" and "no new oil [has been drilled] above the Arctic Circle or a hundred miles off a coast where there may be a beach house.

"Massachusetts senators did not even support a wind production field seven miles out in the ocean off Cape Cod because it apparently may have affected the sunrise view for high energy-consuming beach home owners -- that's unacceptable," Bond declares.

According to Bond, the U.S. needs a comprehensive energy policy that increases all forms of American energy while enhancing conservation and investing in "future fuels." He notes that he supported proposals to streamline allowing refineries and convert coal to liquid fuel for vehicles, but both were defeated.