PRESS RELEASE 1/31/06

Pombo Applauds President's Vision to Set America Free

Increasing American Supplies Key to Kicking Foreign Energy Habit

Washington, DC-House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-CA) issued the following statement today on President George W. Bush's State of the Union address:

"I commend the visionary plan President Bush laid out tonight addressing the opportunities and challenges our country faces.  Americans persevered in the face of remarkable tests this year and his leadership is guiding us through these storms.

America must remain strong during this time and we must never let down our guard.  Many countries around the world are realizing the economic and social progress that comes with the American dream, and they're right at our heels in the global race for this prosperity. 

These countries, like China and India, know that energy is the lifeblood of a strong economy.  And because of this increased global demand for energy, our country remains in an energy crisis that hurts American families and businesses.

We need to make sure America remains the best place in the world to do business. But businesses don't want to stay in America if they have to pay the highest energy prices in the world.

The president outlined a plan tonight to keep America competitive and to reduce our dependence on foreign energy.  I could not agree more.  I believe that we can, we must, lower energy prices for American families and cure our addiction to foreign energy.

There is no one-shot prescription to our ailing energy situation. We must treat this problem with a combination of new and diverse energy sources, increased American energy production and more energy conservation.  We must reduce our dependence on foreign energy to increase national security and to lower energy prices.  Our plan must look to technologies of the future while taking care of the energy needs of today.

And we must keep America competitive. As we look to increasing and diversifying all our energy supplies- renewable, alternative and traditional- we must use American resources.  We must put Americans to work, recovering American energy resources to supply the American energy demand.

With the start of a new year, I plan to guide Congress to promote new, diverse American energy sources, so we can set America free from foreign oil.  Congress must:

• Promote the use of AMERICAN alternative energy sources such as renewable fuels, cellulosic biomass and turning waste products into energy

• Pass legislation that makes it easier to tap these alternative and renewable energy sources

• Promote increased efficiencies and conservation

• Diversify our fuel supplies with AMERICAN bio-diesel and AMERICAN ethanol produced from biomasses such as forest by-products, corn and sugar cane, among others

• Encourage the use of more emission-free nuclear energy

• Use the several hundred years worth of AMERICAN coal to promote clean coal technologies that produce clean burning natural gas and cleaner burning automotive fuels

• Use the world's strictest environmental regulations to tap ANWR's energy

• Recover more traditional AMERICAN energy sources such as clean-burning natural gas and petroleum from unconventional sources like the 2 trillion barrels of oil lying in the oil shale deposits throughout the western states. It would be irresponsible to pretend we won't need traditional fossil fuels in the near future as we transition to alternative sources.

America has been the world's leader on innovation and economic progress.  I am confident we can use American talent, technology and resources to increase American energy supplies and lower prices for families and businesses."

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