Washington, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge voted today for the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007, which would repeal $14 billion in government subsidies and tax breaks to oil companies and invest the money in developing alternative fuels and energy efficiency.
“While Americans are struggling to make ends meet, oil companies are making record profits,” said Etheridge. “I believe that it is our duty to find alternatives to what has become a dangerous reliance on foreign oil.”
“Our nation can become energy independent. Today the answer to our energy crisis is growing in our fields. We can turn soybeans and peanuts, both grown in abundance in North Carolina, into biodiesel, and we can turn sugarcane and corn into ethanol. The CLEAN Energy Act will provide the infrastructure to do just that.”
H.R. 6 will create a renewable fuel standard requiring that by 2015, 15 percent of fuels are renewable. The legislation will also extend and expand tax credits for ethanol and biodiesel. It will extend loan guarantees to farmers to produce renewable energy and it will increase and extend tax credits to promote the use of flex fuel vehicles.
Etheridge has been a leader in Congress of efforts to expand domestic production of biofuels. In May 2006, Etheridge introduced the BIOFUEL Act of 2006, which aimed to achieve many of the same goals as H.R. 6. Etheridge also held a summit in Raleigh in April 2006 to examine how North Carolina can play a role in this growing industry.