Efficiency First

Nevada Senator Harry Reid released the following statement today to introduce the clean energy jobs and oil spill response plan that Senate Democrats announced last week:

Families in Nevada and across America want us to create dependable jobs that cannot be outsourced, lessen our dependence on oil, protect our environment and hold BP accountable for the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  The plan that we are introducing today accomplishes these goals through bipartisan ideas.

Our plan will lower energy costs for homeowners and create at least 150,000 jobs by investing $5 billion in Home Star, a bipartisan energy efficiency program. Our plan will lessen our dependence on oil by promoting the manufacturing and deployment of clean vehicles that use natural gas and electricity.  Our plan will help protect environmentally important and vulnerable areas by fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the next 5 years for the first time.  And our plan will hold BP and all the oil companies involved in the Gulf Coast oil spill fully accountable for the true costs of the damages they caused.  We are making it crystal clear that polluters, not taxpayers, will be held responsible for cleaning up and paying for the damages caused by their negligence.

This bill does not address every issue of importance to our nation’s energy challenges, and we have to continue to work to find bipartisan agreement on a comprehensive bill to help reduce pollution and deal with the very real threat that global warming poses.  But this is a good bill that deserves bipartisan support, and continues us along the path toward a clean energy future.

Senate aides have circulated a 24-page draft summary of the bill pending release of the full legislative text, which is expected later today.