Tuesday September 02, 2008
(Manchester, NH) —Today, former Governor and current candidate for U.S. Senate Jeanne Shaheen addressed the Concord Rotary Club and outlined her plans to take America's energy policy in a new direction.
Shaheen emphasized the need to crack down on reckless Wall Street speculators who are driving up the cost of oil, increase domestic production and end the billions of dollars in tax giveaways to Big Oil and instead invest that money in the development of alternative and renewable energy sources. Shaheen believes it is a national security imperative, an environmental imperative and an economic imperative to solve our energy crisis and develop a 21st century energy economy.
Please find below excerpts from Shaheen's remarks, as prepared for delivery:
"Everywhere I go all across New Hampshire, I see the same frustration: small businesses and families are struggling and Washington just doesn't get it. Health care and college are increasingly unaffordable. Wages are stagnant. Home values are dropping. Gas prices are unbearably high. And people are scared about how high heating fuel costs will be this winter.
"I have no doubt that Americans can rise to meet these challenges, as we have in the past, but it will take new leaders and a new direction."
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"Most of you here today own or work for small businesses. I managed and was co-owner of a small retail business for several years. I know what it's like to struggle to meet a payroll.
"And, as Governor, I worked with businesses all across our state to help them meet the challenges they face. I know it is business, not the government, that creates jobs and drives new ideas and innovation. But government has a vital role to play in fostering the right economic environment for job creation and addressing the challenges businesses face - from health care costs to rising energy prices.
"Today I want to focus on one of those challenges - energy. It's an urgent problem for families and small businesses struggling with high fuel costs, but, if we can decisively to change direction, it's also a long-term economic opportunity for our country, and especially New Hampshire. It is a perfect example of what's wrong with Washington, and an issue on which John Sununu and I have sharp differences."
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"I believe we need a comprehensive approach to energy that addresses both the short-term crushing high prices and our long term energy needs. It's a national security imperative, an environmental imperative and an economic imperative.
"In the short term, we need to crack down on the rampant Wall Street speculation that is distorting energy markets and driving up the cost of crude oil.
"Loopholes are enabling billion dollar hedge funds to evade government oversight and speculation limits and to distort oil markets, driving up prices."
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"Experts estimate that cracking down on speculation could reduce the price of a barrel of oil by 30 to 50 percent. That's why the airline industry and home heating oil dealers and others who actually use fuel in their businesses support closing these loopholes. But Washington and John Sununu aren't listening to them or families and small businesses that are getting crushed by the price of gas and home heating oil. Unfortunately, Washington and John Sununu are listening to Wall Street.
"John Sununu voted to create the Enron loophole and he's voted seven times against closing these loopholes, including six times just in the last year."
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"We should also smartly increase domestic production of oil, in a way that benefits American families and small businesses. But drilling alone won't solve our problems.
"The real answer is to end the massive, needless subsidies to big oil companies and instead make a serious, bold commitment to energy efficiency and clean, alternative energy.
"The world is on the verge of the most significant economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution. Millions of new jobs will be created in alternative energy and energy efficiency and environmental clean-up. Where will these jobs go? These jobs will go to the first countries to invest seriously in clean energy.
"I want those jobs, I want that prosperity, and I want that economic security to come to New Hampshire.
"What we need to do is redirect the billions of dollars in tax breaks Washington is giving to the oil companies – they don't need them, they're making the largest profits in the history of business – and instead use that money to expand tax credits for energy efficiency and alternative energy like solar, wind and forest byproducts; invest in research and development of new energy technologies; and build a 21st century transmission system."
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"Unfortunately, time after time John Sununu has stood with George Bush to protect billions of dollars in subsidies for the oil industry instead of investing in clean alternative energy and energy efficiency. Last December he cast the deciding vote against bipartisan legislation to extend tax credits for energy efficiency and alternative energy – tax credits that were either expiring that very month or at the end of this year. Why? Because the tax credits were paid for by ending some of the massive subsidies for big oil. As a result of John Sununu's vote, thousands of clean energy jobs and billions of billions of private investment dollars have been postponed or put at risk.
"In the last ten months John Sununu has voted nine times against bipartisan efforts to extend and expand energy efficiency and alternative energy tax credits. This summer alone he's opposed four bipartisan energy packages.
"I'll bet on New Hampshire and American ingenuity every time. We can solve our energy challenges, but we need a Senator who will listen to small businesses and entrepreneurs, not big oil. We need a Senator who represents the clean alternative energy future and who will work across the aisle to solve problems."
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"It's something I know how to do because that's what I did it as Governor. I brought Republicans and Democrats together to pass the Clean Power Act, first-in-the-nation legislation limiting the emissions of four pollutants. I improved energy efficiency in state buildings, reducing pollution and saving taxpayers several million dollars a year in energy costs. My administration initiated energy efficiency programs that have saved New Hampshire families and businesses almost $400 million and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by millions of tons. We helped create over 66,000 new jobs in New Hampshire, while keeping our tax burden the lowest of any state in the nation the entire six years I was governor."
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"We have big challenges facing us, but I have no doubt that we are up to the task. We need a new direction and that, I believe, will take a new Senator."
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