Murkowski: Fund New Technologies with Revenue from Increased Traditional Production
Efficiency Improvement Programs Key Component of Use Less, Produce More
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today expressed support for energy efficiency and vehicle technology legislation, while suggesting using revenue from increased oil and gas production to pay for such programs.
“As we look to pay for legislation that comes before us, I continue to believe that our best path forward is to produce more of our own abundant resources and use some of the resulting federal revenues to fund alternatives that reduce consumption,” Murkowski said. “Right now, Alaska alone has about 40 billion barrels of oil that are effectively off limits. By harnessing those resources, as well as those in the Gulf of Mexico and the Rocky Mountain West, we’d dramatically increase our energy security, create thousands of new jobs, and generate tens of billions of dollars that could be used to reduce our debt and fund alternative energy development.”
Murkowski expressed support for two efficiency bills, the Reducing Federal Energy Dollars Act and the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, considered Thursday morning at a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
“While ‘produce more’ grabs the headlines, we should be working equally as hard at ‘use less,’” Murkowski said. “Improving the efficiency of our use of energy is one of the best ways we can reduce our dependence on foreign supplies and its an integral part of an ‘all-of-the-above energy policy.”
Murkowski said a review of existing federal policy on efficiency would help avoid duplication when considering new proposals. Such a review would also provide an opportunity to consider whether existing programs were effective or should be repealed and replaced, Murkowski said.
Murkowski also said she opposed a proposal to sell oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to pay for the provisions of the Alternative Fuel Vehicles Competitiveness and Energy Security Act. Murkowski said the proposal would undermine the purpose of the SPR as a emergency backstop against serious supply disruptions.
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