Letter and Response to Barrack Obama

Here's my letter...

Senator Obama,
I just moved to this Blue State from the Cracker Belt in Arizona. I cannot believe that you voted for W's Pork-Laden Energy tax gift to big oil. Even the uber-conservative Senators from Arizona voted against it. I was here last summer and I even helped campaign for you. Now I am thoroughly embarrassed to have done so. I cut you slack for your unthinkable support for the Bankruptcy bill, even though I could not fathom ONE reason to have done so.
I will not consider voting for you next term until I understand your reasoning....

Here is his response (in a timely matter, I might add...)

Dear Kent:

Thank you for your letter regarding H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which passed the Senate on July 29 by a vote of 74 to 26. I agree completely with your assessment that this bill does not reflect what needs to be done to meet our nation's mounting energy challenge. That is a tremendous lost opportunity that will become increasingly obvious and consequential over time. But, in the final analysis, I also believe the deficiencies of the final bill are largely sins of omission rather than of commission, and let me take a moment to explain why.

We agree that America must get serious about its energy problems and realize that our national security and economic competitiveness in the world are at stake. As the price of oil soars past $60 a barrel, U.S. oil imports continue to rise, and global warming threatens our children’s futures, it should be unacceptable for lawmakers to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the policy challenges our society needs to meet to secure our energy future.

Breaking foreign oil producers' current stranglehold on our national economy is important to ensuring that we control our own destiny and preserve our environmental values. It will also eliminate one of the justifications for an American military presence in volatile regions like the Persian Gulf. That is why reducing our dependence on imported oil and shifting the focus of national energy policy away from fossil fuels to renewable fuels and conservation is so important.

It is time to concentrate on the pursuit of energy independence as the great project of our time. The need is critical, and the technology is at our fingertips. We just have to harness the political will to get the job done. In H.R. 6, Congress clearly failed this test of leadership. Once again, lawmakers were simply not able to break out of the "what is achievable" mindset to take the bold action necessary to create national energy policy that recognizes our needs in the 21st century.

There is so much more we could and should have done. During Senate consideration of the energy bill, I voted for the renewable electricity standard, the McCain/Lieberman climate change amendment, the elimination of the oil inventory in the Outer Continental Shelf, and increased fuel efficiency standards. I very much regret that none of these significant initiatives were included in the final bill. However, I cast my vote on that legislation not because of what it didn’t do but rather because it shifts national energy policy more toward renewable sources and because it helps Illinois.

I could not have voted for the energy bill passed by the House of Representatives, which included, among other things, liability protection for the producers of the fuel additive MTBE, authority to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska (ANWR), and disproportionate tax breaks for the oil and gas industry. However, the final energy bill eliminated many of the House's extreme provisions, such as MTBE and ANWR. Also, 40% of the total tax incentives in the House bill went to the oil and gas industry, while only 7% went to energy efficiency, and no tax incentives were given to renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, and ethanol.

But, while Congress clearly could have done better, the final energy bill does take some steps forward. The final bill provides 40% of its tax incentives to energy efficiency and renewable energy, while providing only 18% of its tax incentives to the oil and gas industry. It provides billions of dollars in loan guarantees for research into new energy technologies, tax credits for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, and tax incentives to encourage energy conservation. It contains tax incentives for automobile manufacturers, retailers, and consumers to encourage and accelerate the production of vehicles that use alternative fuel technology, which can provide greater fuel efficiency and cause less pollution than conventional automobiles.

Also, Illinois will benefit significantly from provisions in the bill that require refiners to nearly double the use of ethanol in gasoline over the next seven years and provide a tax credit to encourage service stations to install pumps for E-85 gasoline. These two provisions will help reduce our dependence on imported oil, boost farm income by expanding the market for corn and soybeans, and promote economic growth in rural areas by attracting investment in community-size ethanol plants.

The bill will provide significant assistance to the Illinois coal industry, which is important to the downstate economy. It provides $1.6 billion for research into clean coal technology, promotes partnerships with the private sector to develop new methods of improving the efficiency of coal-fired power plants, and offers tax credits for investments in clean coal facilities. The bill also includes a provision I authored that provides funding to Southern Illinois University for research and testing on converting Illinois basin coal into transportation fuels. In total, the energy bill is estimated to help create or maintain 100,000 jobs in Illinois

In closing, let me reiterate that I am fully aware that this energy bill does not turn the corner on our nation’s energy challenge. While it will become law shortly, I will continue to do all I can to keep the debate alive about what must be done to promote real energy independence in the rapidly changing 21st century world. This essential fight is not over.

Again, Kent, thank you for writing. Please keep in touch in the days ahead.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator