| September 19, 2005
OLYMPIA…Senate Republicans today
unveiled an energy plan aimed at reducing fuel and heating costs, creating
jobs, protecting the environment and boosting national security. Among other
proposals, the package offers incentives for making and using
environmentally friendly “green” fuels and increasing the use of “smart”
energy technologies in Washington state.
“This package moves our state’s
energy production into a more self-reliant direction, and in a way that
benefits people all across Washington, from a farmer in Eastern Washington
to someone filling up their tank with biodiesel in Bothell,” said Senate
Republican Leader Bill Finkbeiner, R-Kirkland. “While developing these
ideas, we envisioned what we wanted our state’s energy infrastructure and
power consumption habits to look like in the future. This package moves us
in that direction.”
The plan targets the following
ways to increase energy production and the production and use of
environmentally friendly fuels in Washington state:
Encourages production and use of green fuels
through a public information campaign, incentives for consumers to use such
fuels and rewards for farmers who grow products needed for green fuels;
Encourages expansion of refinery capacity
through, among other things, a more reasonable permitting process;
Saves consumers money on their natural gas
and electric bills through a cap on the public utility tax;
Gives renewable electricity developers and
investors more certainty by extending and expanding current renewable
electricity exemptions; and
Rewards consumers and utilities for using
“smart” technologies and provides incentives for makers of these products to
locate in Washington.
“Increasing
the supply of energy is the only real long-term solution to the soaring
energy prices,” said Sen. Bob Morton, ranking
member of the Senate Water, Energy and Environment Committee. “For
years, I have worked to increase traditional energy generation in our state
and have studied and advocated various alternative forms of energy
generation. While we have
made progress, energy production in Washington has not kept pace with our
needs. It is unfortunate that it has taken an event like Hurricane Katrina
3,000 miles away to provide a political climate ripe for speeding up our
state’s efforts to increase energy production.”
“Palouse farmers are paying more
for a gallon of fuel than they’re receiving for a bushel of grain,” said
Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville. “Our plan will increase our fuel supply
and help to stabilize prices, while helping our farmers in a significant way
by giving them incentives to grow the crops needed to make clean, green
fuels. Today, most of these crops are coming from the Midwest, but I think
it’s time for us here in Washington to ‘grow our own.’”
“As a senator who lives in the
heart of farm country, I cannot overstate how important the Senate
Republican energy package is to Eastern Washington and the state as a
whole,” said Sen. Joyce Mulliken, R-Ephrata. “It will create jobs not just
for farmers, but also at ethanol and other green fuel plants, like the one
we have in Moses Lake.”
“Encouraging more widespread
production and use of these ‘green’ fuels will give our state greater energy
capacity with less pollution and associated health problems,” said Sen. Luke
Esser, R-Bellevue. “In addition, using ‘smart grid’ technologies can be a
much more cost-effective way to expand energy transmission without the risks
of brownouts and blackouts like those that befell the eastern U.S. two years
ago.”
“Becoming self-reliant on energy
could become Washington’s biggest asset in our continuing efforts for
increased national security,” said Sen. Dave Schmidt, R-Mill Creek and a
member of the Washington National Guard. “Reducing or eliminating our need
for foreign sources of fuel by producing our own fuel-related products and
improving our overall energy infrastructure is a win-win situation.”
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For more information contact Rebecca Japhet at (360)
786-7516 or
Japhet.Rebecca@leg.wa.gov
or
Tami Davis (360) 786-7519 or
Davis.Tami@leg.wa.gov
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