In one of the most important issues facing humanity, the policy of the Bush/Cheney Administration on the environment will have a disastrous effect on the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the energy we consume. These policies have become so unpopular with the public that Vice President Cheney recently said that the administration was rethinking the deep cuts it proposed in the 2002 budget for energy efficiency and renewable energy, according to USA Today. Because of the outrage of the American people regarding some of the absurd policies President Bush has adopted regarding the environment, I am glad that his rhetoric has recently changed on this issue. Unfortunately, his actions have not.

Here are the facts. At a time when cities throughout the world, including the City of Burlington, are making very successful strides towards reducing the energy we consume, President Bush is proposing to slash the federal energy conservation budget by more than a third. At a time when wind energy is the world’s fastest growing source of energy and when the price of solar energy has gradually been coming down in recent years due to better technology, the President is proposing to slash federal renewable energy programs by more than $130 million. At a time when people are in danger of getting cancer by drinking water containing unacceptably high levels of arsenic, President Bush has revoked a federal rule to reduce this poisonous toxin from the water we drink. At a time when emissions from dirty coal-fired power plants bring acid rain into Vermont that threatens our forests and our health and carbon dioxide that threatens our global climate, President Bush broke his own campaign pledge to reduce emissions. At a time when scientists throughout the world believe that we have an enormous amount of work to do to combat the danger of global warming, President Bush has backed down from a treaty to address this issue. At every step of the way, President Bush has been dead wrong on both our energy policy and the environment.

Given the oil industry background of both the President and Vice President, their policies should come as no surprise. But, the extent to which big oil is already profiting from the current Administration’s action and inaction should. For example, Exxon Mobil’s first quarter earnings soared by 51 percent to $5.05 billion. This fell just shy of their 4th quarter profits from last year which at $5.12 billion were a quarterly record for a United States corporation.

Nobody can deny that our current national energy policies are a disaster and that we waste huge amounts of fuel and electricity. The question is what do we do about it?

President Bush’s approach is to drill for oil in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and increase the profits of big oil even more. How many barrels of oil can we get out of ANWR in the next ten years? According to the experts at the Department of Energy: Zero. Instead of drilling for oil in an environmentally sensitive area that won’t give us 1 drop of oil in the next ten years, we should increase the fuel efficiency of our cars and SUVs. According to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, if we raised these fuel efficiency standards to 45 miles per gallon phased in over ten years we would save $80 billion a year at the pump, 1.3 billion gallons of oil a year, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.5 trillion pounds a year. How much oil would we get by drilling in ANWR in the next ten years: Zero.

According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, making replacement tires on our cars and SUVs more energy efficient would save 5.4 billion barrels of oil over the next 50 years, almost double the amount of economically recoverable oil that can be drilled in ANWR over that same period.

And, drilling in ANWR would do nothing to solve our nation’s electricity crisis. We could take a major bite out of this crisis, if the country adopted an energy conservation policy similar to the one I established over a decade ago in Burlington when I was Mayor.

As a result of Burlington’s progressive energy policy, despite significant growth in the city, Burlington’s peak load is no greater today than it was 10 years ago. In fact, in inflation adjusted dollars, the average residential customer in Burlington, is paying $140 dollars a year LESS today than in 1989. Today, because of Burlington’s progressive and far sighted conservation and renewable energy initiatives, commercial and industrial rates have remained stable over the last ten years, and hundreds of small businesses save an average of $1,800 a year, and many large businesses have saved even more. Over 30% of Burlington's power now comes from the renewable wood resource that is declining in price while fossil fuels are soaring. That’s an energy approach that makes eminent sense, a record that the rest of this country should learn from and a record that I intend to push for in Congress.

And, through energy efficiency tax credits and rebates on a national level, we can make our homes and businesses 30 to 50 percent more energy efficient, saving consumers $11 billion a year in energy costs, according to the Alliance to Save Energy.

Let me briefly go over what my office has done and will be doing in the future to address this issue:

Last year I was able to pass an amendment that transferred $45 million into several valuable energy efficiency programs - including $20 million for the highly successful Weatherization Assistance Program that helps low income people better insulate their homes. That amendment will enable an additional 15,000 homeowners in this country to receive weatherization assistance. This year, I have introduced the Arsenic Reduction in Drinking Water Act to reduce the risk of cancer and other health related diseases. This legislation already has 69 co-sponsors, including 1 Republican.

Soon, I will be introducing legislation to provide a comprehensive energy efficiency strategy for this country to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, save consumers money, and provide jobs.

And, next week, I’ll be meeting with wind energy experts to see how we can plan for significantly increasing the use of wind turbines in Vermont and throughout the country.

The bottom line is that we now have the opportunity to set an energy course that saves money, restores our environmental health, and enhances the competitiveness of our economy and our national security. We cannot afford inaction or the notion that simply drilling for more oil will solve the problem. Congress and the President must act now, and I intend to play an active role in that process.

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