In June, the Senate passed a bipartisan, forward-looking energy bill to increase the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline, boost wind energy development by extending clean energy tax incentives, and crack down on Big Oil's manipulation of oil prices. The House of Representatives followed up in August passing a different package of energy reforms that must now be reconciled with the Senate bill into one package.
Democrats want to meet with their Republican counterparts, hash out our differences, and send a bill to the President before the end of the year. The best chance to get this done is to convene a conference committee where senior Republicans and Democrats can meet and find bipartisan agreement. That is what happened in 2005, when Congress last passed an energy bill. I was part of that conference and by all measures it produced a good outcome for South Dakota by establishing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
Unfortunately, a few Republicans in the United States Senate from the oil patch are blocking bipartisan efforts to move forward and complete our work by not allowing the bill to go to conference. On two occasions last month, Majority Leader Reid sought an agreement to put Democrats and Republicans in the same room to negotiate a compromise only to have a handful of Republican Senators object.
Most Senators I've talked with, Republicans and Democrats, agree that these objections should be dropped because Americans recognize that not doing anything is only going to make the problem tougher to solve in the future.
Why are these Senators blocking us from considering a bill that will strengthen energy security, decrease gasoline consumption and boost our economy? There is no good reason to rely so heavily on expensive foreign oil when cost competitive biofuels are available. In 2006, Americans imported 3.69 billion barrels of oil, sending tens of billions of dollars to foreign countries. That's your money and our security squandered. By comparison, adopting the RFS provisions included in the Senate bill will create thousands of American jobs and pump money into our economy. We would reduce our trade deficit, secure our energy supplies, and boost our economy. That is great for South Dakota and the country.
The President has called for reducing gasoline consumption by 20 percent in 10 years and the pending Energy Bill moves the country in that direction. While some in the Senate don't agree with that goal and are more concerned with protecting the status quo than moving forward, I will continue to fight for South Dakota's interests by working to complete a bipartisan energy bill.