"Today the U.S. imports nearly 60 percent of its oil, and the problem is getting worse, not better," Daschle said. "According to the Department of Energy, even with an aggressive program to expand domestic production, American oil imports will reach 70 percent or greater by the year 2020 without new emphasis on renewable energy sources and energy efficiency. The energy bill we are taking up today takes great strides and ensures that South Dakota will make great contributions toward turning this around."

Daschle noted that although increased production of oil and gas alone will not solve the problem, it should be a prominent part of America's energy strategy. The bill Daschle supports makes increased domestic production a priority. It encourages development of natural gas deposits in the deepwater areas of the Gulf of Mexico, provides more reliable, affordable natural gas through the construction of a pipeline from the North Slope of Alaska to deliver 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas to the lower 48 states, and contains billions of dollars in tax incentives for oil and gas exploration and production in the United States.

"The traditional answers alone, however B drilling and digging B simply will not break foreign producers= chokehold on the American economy," Daschle said. "To succeed, we must also open our minds to new ideas, invest in new technologies and embrace new approaches to longstanding energy problems."

Daschle noted that because the U.S. holds only three percent of the known world oil reserves, any successful energy plan must supplement drilling with renewable fuels and innovative approaches to improving energy efficiency if America is to make itself self-sufficient and secure.

"The bill I support sets a goal of generating 10 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2010 and provides a roadmap for achieving this objective," Daschle said. "It also triples our use of ethanoland encourages the production of renewable resources that exist in such great abundance in South Dakota, like solar, geothermal, biomass and wind."

Daschle said that while the energy bill passed by the House contains little more than studies, tax breaks to energy companies and drilling in a wildlife refuge in Alaska – none of which are good for South Dakota – the Senate bill solves America's energy problems in large part through investments in renewable energy sources like those in South Dakota.

"Our bill is a forward-looking, realistic, and comprehensive plan for providing clean, reliable, and affordable energy for South Dakotans and all Americans," Daschle said. "The bill recognizes that we cannot drill ourselves to energy independence, and it makes balanced investments in renewable electricity from wind, solar and geothermal sources, energy conservation, renewable fuels, and traditional fuels, such as oil and gas, and cleaner use of coal."

The following are a number of key provisions in the bill that benefit South Dakota:

• Requires electric suppliers to produce 10 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources, such as wind, by 2020. This nationwide investment in renewables would be a tremendous boon for the South Dakota economy.

• Creates a Renewable Fuels Standard that will triple ethanol production over the next decade by requiring that an increasing percentage of renewable fuels (ethanol and biodiesel) be blended into motor fuels. Experts estimate that this provision would mean thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars in new investments in South Dakota.

• Provides grants and loans to tribes to expand development of tribal energy sources and to improve tribal energy infrastructure, and creates a new Office of Indian Energy Programs within the Department of Energy. Tribal lands contain substantial energy resources – for instance, in the Dakotas alone there are an estimated 276,000 megawatts of potential wind energy on reservations. (A megawatt of energy is enough to power three houses for a full year.) Harnessing this energy in a responsible way would benefit tribes, South Dakota and all of America.

• Provides tax incentives for investments in energy development on Indian lands.

• Makes cooperatives eligible, for the first time, for the existing small producer ethanol tax credit; and increases the annual production limit on who qualifies as a small producer from 30 million gallons to 60 million gallons per year. This would make more small ethanol producers, like those in South Dakota, eligible for this tax credit.

• Creates a new tax incentive to promote the use of biodiesel, a soybean-based fuel. This is similar to the existing ethanol tax credit; it makes biodiesel more affordable, more competitive, and it increases consumer demand.

• Provides new tax credits for homeowners who invest in energy-efficient technology in their homes. This helps make improving home energy efficiency more affordable for individuals and families.

• More than doubles funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), increasing the annual authorization to $3.4 billion. This makes more money available to aid low- income individuals with their heating bills.

• Provides a five-year extension of the production tax credit for electricity generated by wind, solar, geothermal, or biomass. Encourages significant investment in these new energy markets.