Our nation needs a balanced and comprehensive energy policy that provides consumers with affordable and reliable energy, invests in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, increases domestic energy supplies in a responsible manner and protects our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign fuel sources. Our energy policy must also improve automobile fuel economy and protect the environment without harming our manufacturing industry.

In Michigan, we know how difficult cold winters can be, especially for middle and low-income people who do not have the resources to handle high heating bills. We need to make sure that no one is forced to choose between groceries and heat. That is one of the reasons I have supported the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Weatherization Program since coming to the Senate. I have joined other Senators in requesting adequate funding for LIHEAP for next year and advanced funding for 2004. I also support increasing the funding for the Weatherization Program to make more homes energy efficient which in turn will reduce energy consumption and lower fuel bills.

Today, renewable energy represents less than three percent of Michigan's electricity generation. However, Michigan has strong opportunities to develop wind and solar power, which would provide significant environmental benefits. Midwestern farmlands are ideal for growing high-yield "energy crops," including soybeans grown in Michigan, to help power our economy. Corn grown in the Midwest can be used to produce ethanol, cleaner burning fuel for vehicles. While there are barriers that must be overcome to bring these alternative sources of power on line, we should support renewable energy programs by offering incentives to those who use them.

Responsible domestic energy production can be achieved. During the Clinton Administration, domestic production of oil and natural gas on federal lands actually increased from 13 percent of domestic output in 1992 to 25 percent in 1999. We need to maintain domestic energy production in a balanced manner that maximizes resource potential while recognizing crucial national environmental priorities. Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would do neither which is why I oppose it. Drilling in ANWR would provide a total of less than a year's worth of our oil supply. For that temporary and limited benefit, Americans should not be asked to develop the last pristine sector of Alaska's North Coast.

A balanced energy strategy includes support for technologies that will increase auto fuel efficiency and as a result decrease our dependence on foreign oil. Such an approach will also protect the environment without harming our auto industry. I crafted an approach with my Republican colleague, Senator Kit Bond of Missouri, that did just that.

Currently, a new generation of automotive technology is under development that offers great promise in our quest to achieve greater fuel efficiency. Technologies such as hybrid vehicles, which use an internal combustion engine in combination with a battery and electric motor, and fuel cells, which are devices using hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity and heat, should help to dramatically improve fuel economy and protect our environment.

The Levin-Bond proposal uses tax credits to provide powerful incentives for the development of advanced technology vehicles such as hybrids, electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles. Our approach applies the purchasing power of the government to speed up the commercial production of such new technologies and provides stepped-up government investment in the research and development we need to move to a fuel cell-powered car and a hydrogen economy. These steps will help nurture important advances in automotive technology that will initially reduce our use of fossil fuels for our transportation needs and perhaps eventually virtually eliminate it altogether.

Under Levin-Bond, which has passed the Senate, the Department of Transportation would be required to issue regulations to increase fuel economy standards within 15 months. The Levin-Bond approach would ensure that the appropriate increase in standards is determined based on consideration of 13 criteria including cost and safety and the discriminatory treatment of domestic manufacturers under the current regulatory structure.

All of these strategies – conservation, renewable energy, responsible domestic production, research and development on new technologies, and tax incentives for purchasing new generation vehicles – work together to create a common sense energy policy that will benefit Americans today and for generations to come.