Democratic Jr Senator (CT), ran for V.P. with Gore, ran for president 2004
50% Excess Profits Tax on oil companies' undeserved profit
Q: Energy cost increases averaged 6.3% in the Northeast this season. What should we do?
LIEBERMAN: This is an outrage. People are being cheated. Last December, in the midst of the heating oil season, I submitted legislation that would impose a 50%
Excess Profits Tax on oil companies for really undeserved profits and return that money to low- and middle-income consumers to help them pay bills.
SCHLESINGER: With all due respect, Joe, been there, done that. The last time we did, interest rates was
to 14%, you couldn't get a mortgage, oil prices skyrocketed, and it just didn't work. Pres. Reagan repealed that Excess Profits Tax, and immediately oil prices fell to a 20-year low, and stayed therefore about 20 years. So that's not the solution.
LAMONT: Front and center to deal with energy prices is that we've got to deal with our dependence on oil, with incentives and conservation to allow that to happen.
Source: CT 2006 Debate with Al Terzi, moderator
Oct 19, 2006
Energy Bill included incentives for conservation
Q: Let's talk about the Energy Bill.
LAMONT: Dick Cheney invited 100 of his favorite energy CEOs and lobbyists behind closed doors, and they passed the Energy Bill. It provided billions of dollars in subsidies to Exxon-Mobil. Sen. Lieberman was one of
the only New England Senators to sign onto that bill. It was a bad bill.
SCHLESINGER: I can't believe this, Ned, I finally agree with you on something. But I would have voted against that bill for entirely different reasons, because it would have
developed a 3-mile platform in the middle of Long Island Sound as a fuel depot for natural gas. We can't have it, and that vetoed the bill for me.
LIEBERMAN: The Energy Bill last year was criticized for one part. But it has the most substantial
incentives for energy conservation and alternative energy that Congress has ever adopted.
LAMONT: For Sen. Lieberman to sign onto that bill, we lost that opportunity to put in efficiency standards, and to put together a comprehensive energy plan.
Source: CT 2006 Debate with Al Terzi, moderator (X-ref Schlesinger)
Oct 19, 2006
Set America Free Act: reduce oil from unstable countries
Q: What should we do about energy needs in the long run?
LIEBERMAN: In the long run we've got to break our dependence on foreign oil from countries that are unstable or hostile to us. I'm now co-sponsoring a bill called Set America Free, which will
reduce our consumption of oil by 10 million barrels a day. It would develop an American biofuels refinery and distribution network.
SCHLESINGER: We have to accept the fact that we're moving from fossil fuel to eventually solar, we're in a probably 30
or 40 year transition process. We have to put incentives into alternative fuel sources. I call it my Declaration of Energy Independence. And we have a two-tiered process for oil company profits: One for fossil fuels, which is a higher tax, and one for
alternatives. That way you direct the funds where they're needed and you get results.
LIEBERMAN: There's been no greater failure of leadership in our government over the last 30 years than our failure to do something about our dependence on foreign oil
Source: CT 2006 Debate with Al Terzi, moderator
Oct 19, 2006
Cheney energy bill was imperfect but good for CT
LAMONT: Sen. Lieberman's support of the Dick Cheney "no lobbyist left behind" energy bill was a mistake.
LIEBERMAN : There you go again. You've been spending your money on commercials to criticize me for voting for that energy bill. Look, very rarely
do you get a perfect bill. The tax credits for the energy industry in that big energy bill last year were bad. I said so. I am co-sponsoring legislation to try and repeal them. They were wrong. But I'll tell you why I voted for the bill.
But there were other parts of it that will save Connecticut electricity customers $800 million. Would you have voted against that? The other thing that it did is had the most substantial incentives for clean fuel, alternative fuel and fuel cells,
which can create thousands of new jobs in the fuel cell industry in Connecticut, and I hope you would not have voted against that. But most of all, we've got to get energy independent.
Raise CAFE standard from 27.5 mpg to 40, including SUVs
Q: Would you increase the required automobile fleet average of 27.5 mpg; and SUVs and pickups averaging 20.7 mpg?
A: My 'Declaration of Energy Independence' calls for CAFE standards to be set at a level that will save 2 million barrels of oil per day
by 2015. According to estimates provided during last year's energy debate, this would require CAFE standards to be raised to 40 miles per gallon. In addition, the fuel efficiency standards should apply to SUVs as well as to passenger automobiles.
Source: Associated Press policy Q&A, "Fuel Efficiency"
Jan 25, 2004
Support Alaskan Natural Gas Pipeline; opposes drilling ANWR
Q: What is your stance on the Alaskan Natural Gas Pipeline and ANWR? Is there a substantial need to develop new energy sources?
A: Leading America to energy independence in an important national goal
and I have a full plan for doing that which you can find on my Web site www.joe2004.com. In specific response, I have long opposed [drilling for oil in] ANWR and do support the Alaskan Natural Gas Pipeline.
Source: Concord Monitor / WashingtonPost.com on-line Q&A
Nov 3, 2003
Accept some American responsibility for global warming
Q: What would you do as president to move ahead with an effective and internationally acceptable policy response to address global climate change?
A: John McCain and I were very pleased by the 44 votes we got for the anti-global warming legislation.
The Bush administration and more conservative business interests fought hard against our Climate Stewardship Act. Our proposal is a moderate first step toward accepting some American responsibility for global warming.
Source: Concord Monitor / WashingtonPost.com on-line Q&A
Nov 3, 2003
Declaration of Energy Independence
The OPEC decision to cut the supply of oil shows that even George Bush's buddies in OPEC have lost confidence in his economic plans, because they based that cut in supply on a projected cut and demand because they see America in a jobless recovery. It's
going to take a Democratic president to begin to create jobs again. One of the ways we're going to do it with a declaration of real energy independence, so no matter how strong we are, we can't have our strength be compromised by the countries in OPEC.
Source: Debate at Pace University in Lower Manhattan
Sep 25, 2003
Raise mileage standard to 40 mpg
I am for increasing the average fuel efficiency of our vehicles to 40 miles a gallon. That's critical. I'm for investing billions of dollars in creating new, alternative renewable energy technologies and giving tax credits to people who buy them.
We can get together and make ourselves energy-independent and stronger economically.
Source: Debate at Pace University in Lower Manhattan
Sep 25, 2003
Destroying pristine ANWR not worth 6 months of oil
CHENEY [to Lieberman]: We support the moratorium on drilling off the coast of California, but there are places where we ought to develop those resources. The Arctic National Wildlife Reserve is one of them. It’s right next to Prudhoe Bay. The
infrastructure is there to be able to deliver that product to market. We think we can do it, given today’s technology, in a way that will not damage the environment, will not permanently mar the countryside at all. We’re looking for balance with respect
to environmental policy and energy policy.
LIEBERMAN: I’m against drilling in the Arctic refuge. This is one of the most beautiful, pristine places that the good Lord has created on Earth. It’s just not worth it to do that for what seems to be the
possibility of six months worth of oil 7 to 12 years from now. That’s not much of a response to the immediate problem that gasoline consumers & home heating oil customers are facing this winter. There are more resources within the US that we can develop.
Source: Vice-presidential debate
Oct 5, 2000
Save 3 mpg and we conserve same as drilling Alaska
In the last eight years, drilling for gas on federal lands has gone up 60%, and it’s been done in an environmentally protective way. But the answer [for oil shortages] is new technology. If we can get three miles more per gallon from our cars, we’ll get
a million--we’ll save a million barrels of oil a day, which is exactly what the Alaskan refuge would produce. The choice to me is clear. We’ve got to develop fuel cells, alternative energy. We’ve got to encourage people to conserve and to be efficient.
Source: Vice-presidential debate
Oct 5, 2000
Incentives for business to reduce greenhouse emissions
The US should be a world leader in tempering global climate change through a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Lieberman supports the Credit for Voluntary Reductions Act, which establishes new incentives to encourage businesses to make investments
that improve efficiency and reduce pollution. He also pushed for funding for clean energy programs and stridently opposed efforts to attach anti-environmental riders to spending bills.
Source: Senate web site, “Issue Focus: Environment”
Aug 7, 2000
Kyoto Protocol should include China
On environmental issues, Lieberman supported the Clinton position at the Kyoto air pollution conference but said China has to be part of the solution.
He co-sponored the Clean Air Act of 1990 and supports an EPA project to allow companies greater flexibility to achieve specific pollution control goals.
Source: Almanac of American Politics 2000 (Barone & Ujifusa)
Jan 1, 2000
The Clean Energy Act would slash air pollution from older polluting power plants, maintain and increase investments in clean energy, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The Clean Energy Act ends the pollution exemption for old power plants currently
grandfathered in under the Clean Air Act. It would reduce emissions of the full range of pollutants that damage human health and the global environment. It requires increased investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, and it gives
consumers the information and ability to choose clean sources of power in a deregulated marketplace. “Electricity deregulation carries the promise of enormous benefits for the consumer - mainly in reduced electric bills - which I strongly support,”
Lieberman said. “But deregulation can also cause adverse environmental and public health consequences if we don’t do it right.
Source: Press Release, “Clean Energy Act”
Jul 14, 1999
Climate change is bilingual, for business & for enviros
The threat of climate change is not an abstraction or the object of a science fiction writer’s overactive imagination; it is, unfortunately, all too real. The research shows convincingly that global warming is on the rise, and with it the likelihood that
the world will be put at risk in our children’s lifetime. We have all unfortunately done too little to attack the underlying problem, the escalating emissions of greenhouse gases, which threaten our health, our safety, and our homes.
[My] proposed
legislation is not just bipartisan but bilingual, speaking in terms that we hope that the combatants on both sides of the global warming wars can understand and embrace. Already its inventive, market-oriented approach has managed to bring together key
segments of the business community and the environmental movement. This bill will begin to break the logjam, spurring the nation’s energy, agriculture and forestry industries to begin taking tangible steps to limit the accumulation of greenhouse gases.
Source: Senate statement, “Early Action”
Mar 4, 1999
Voted YES on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies.
Creating Long-term Energy Alternatives for the Nation (CLEAN) Act
Title I: Ending Subsidies for Big Oil Act--denying a deduction for income attributable to domestic production of oil, natural gas, or their related primary products.
Title II: Royalty Relief for American Consumers Act--to incorporate specified price thresholds for royalties on oil & gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
Title III: Strategic Energy Efficiency And Renewables Reserve--makes the Reserve available to accelerate the use of clean domestic renewable energy resources and alternative fuels.
Proponents support voting YES because:
This legislation seeks to end the unwarranted tax breaks & subsidies which have been lavished on Big Oil over the last several years, at a time of record prices at the gas pump and record oil industry profits. Big Oil is hitting the American taxpayer not once, not twice, but three times. They are hitting them at the pump, they are hitting them through the
Tax Code, and they are hitting them with royalty holidays put into oil in 1995 and again in 2005.
It is time to vote for the integrity of America's resources, to vote for the end of corporate welfare, to vote for a new era in the management of our public energy resources.
Opponents support voting NO because:
I am wearing this red shirt today, because this shirt is the color of the bill that we are debating, communist red. It is a taking. It will go to court, and it should be decided in court.
This bill will increase the competitive edge of foreign oil imported to this country. If the problem is foreign oil, why increase taxes and make it harder to produce American oil and gas? That makes no sense. We should insert taxes on all foreign oil imported. That would raise your money for renewable resources. But what we are doing here today is taxing our domestic oil. We are raising dollars supposedly for renewable resources, yet we are still burning fossil fuels.
Status: Bill passed Bill passed, 65-27
Reference: Creating Long-Term Energy Alternatives for the Nation (CLEAN);
Bill H.R.6
; vote number 2007-226
on Jun 21, 2007
Voted YES on making oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal.
Voting YES would amend the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal. It would be a violation for any foreign state:
to limit the production or distribution of oil & natural gas;
to set or maintain the price of oil & natural gas; or
to otherwise take any action in restraint of trade for oil & natural gas;
when such collective action has a direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the market, supply, price, or distribution of oil & natural gas in the US.
Proponents recommend voting YES because:
Our NOPEC bill will authorize filing suit against nations that participate in a conspiracy to limit the supply, or fix the price, of oil. In addition, it will specify that the doctrines of sovereign immunity do not exempt nations that participate in oil cartels from basic antitrust law.
Opponents recommend voting NO because:
No one likes OPEC. But this amendment, in my opinion, would make bad law.
The Framers of the Constitution wisely assigned responsibility for formulating foreign policy and conducting foreign relations to the President and to the Congress, not to the law courts.
The amendment before us has its roots in a lawsuit filed by the labor union nearly 30 years ago. The union at that time charged OPEC with price fixing in violation of our antitrust laws. The trial court dismissed the case on the ground that OPEC members are sovereign nations and are immune from suit. Adopting the amendment will undoubtedly be very popular, but it is also very unwise.
In addition, we here in the Senate ought to consider how enactment of this amendment might affect our relations with OPEC members. What will be the international repercussions when the US starts awarding judgments against foreign nations and attaching their assets in this country? Will other nations start to view our trade policies--such as our nuclear trade restrictions--as violations of their antitrust laws?
Voted YES on factoring global warming into federal project planning.
Amendment would require the consideration of global climate change, in planning, feasibility studies, & general reevaluation reports. Would require accounting for the costs & benefits from the impacts of global climate change on flood, storm, and drought risks; potential future impacts of global climate change-related weather events, such as increased hurricane activity, intensity, storm surge, sea level rise, and associated flooding; & employs nonstructural approaches and design modifications to avoid or prevent impacts to streams, wetlands, and floodplains that provide natural flood and storm buffers.
Proponents recommend voting YES because:
It just seems logical that we ask the Corps of Engineers to include in their analyses, judgments about the potential impact of global climate change. All this amendment seeks to do, as a matter of common sense, is to ask the Army Corps of Engineers to factor climate change into their future plans. Secondly, we are making a
statement here to finally recognize the reality of what is happening with respect to climate change.
Opponents recommend voting NO because:
The same people today who are saying we are all going to die from global warming, just back in the middle 1970s were saying another ice age is coming and we are all going to die. Which way do you want it?
If a surge of anthropogenic gases--this CO2, methane, or whatever it is--were causing a warming period, then around 1945 we would have a warming period because in the middle 1940s we had the greatest increase in greenhouse gases. But what happened? It did not precipitate a warming period.
Peer reviewed evidence shows that the sun has actually been driving the temperature change. You don't have to be a scientist to know that the Sun can have something to do with climate change.
Implementing Kyoto would reduce the average annual household income nearly $2,700, at a time when the cost of all goods would rise sharply.
Voted YES on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska's ANWR.
To remove the establishment of an oil and gas leasing program in the Alaskan Coastal Plain. The original bill allows for an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Voteing YES on this amendment would remove that section, hence barring leasing in ANWR.
Voted YES on $3.1B for emergency oil assistance for hurricane-hit areas.
To provide for appropriations for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Vote on a motion to waive the Budget Act in order to adopt an amendment that appropriates federal funds for the LIHEAP program. A 3/5th vote is required to amand a budget bi
Reference: Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program appropriation;
Bill S.AMDT.2033 to HR 2863
; vote number 2005-250
on Oct 5, 2005
Voted YES on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (instead of 5%).
Amendment to improve the energy security of the United States and reduce United States dependence on foreign oil imports by 40% by 2025. The amendment seeks to reduce usage by 7.6 million barrels of oil a day, out of a total usage of 20 million barrels of oil a day. The bill without amendment seeks to reduce usage by 1 million barrels of oil a day. Opponents of the amendment said, "It would be disruptive of jobs if you set a 78 mile per gallon CAFÉ standard for cars, a 185-percent increase; a 60 mile per gallon standard for trucks, light trucks, a 174-percent increase. [The unamended version] is more in keeping with President Kennedy's "man on the Moon" goal. [The amended version] is a "man or woman on Mars" goal, and maybe we will get there one day, but it is unrealistic today."
Voted YES on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Vote to adopt an amendment that would strike a provision in the concurrent resolution that recognizes revenue from oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The amendment says: "To ensure that legislation that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, other federal lands, and the Outer Continental Shelf to oil drilling receives full consideration and debate in the Senate under regular order, rather than being fast-tracked under reconciliation procedures; to ensure that receipts from such drilling destined for the federal treasury are fairly shared with local jurisdictions; and does not occur unless prohibitions against the export of Alaskan oil are enacted."
Reference: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge anti-drilling Amendment;
Bill S AMDT 168 to S.Con.Res. 18
; vote number 2005-52
on Mar 16, 2005
Voted YES on targeting 100,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2010.
Dorgan Amdt. No. 865; To require that the hydrogen commercialization plan of the Department of Energy include a description of activities to support certain hydrogen technology deployment goals. Part of S 14 Energy Omnibus bill; this vote would pass an amendment that would call for the Department of Energy to set targets and timelines to maintain the production of 100,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2010, and 2.5 million vehicles annually by 2020. It also would call for the department to set targets for the sale of hydrogen at fueling stations. The bill would require the Energy secretary to submit a yearly progress report to Congress.
Reference:
Bill S.14
; vote number 2003-212
on Jun 10, 2003
Voted YES on removing consideration of drilling ANWR from budget bill.
Boxer Amdt. No. 272.; To prevent consideration of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in a fast-track budget reconciliation bill. S Con Res 23 Budget resolution FY2004: Vote to pass an amendment that would strike (remove) language in the resolution that would permit oil drilling and exploration in part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. [Voting No favors drilling for oil in ANWR].
Voted NO on drilling ANWR on national security grounds.
Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Murkowski Amendment No. 31323; To create jobs for Americans, to reduce dependence on foreign sources of crude oil and energy, to strengthen the economic self determination of the Inupiat Eskimos and to promote national security. Would allow gas and oil development in a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if the president certifies to Congress that production in the area is in the nation's security and economic interests (qwhich Prsident Bush would). If the cloture motion is agreed to, debate will be limited and a vote will occur. If the cloture motion is rejected debate could continue indefinitely and instead the bill is usually set aside. A yea vote for this bill was one in favor of drilling in the reserve. Three-fifths of the total Senate (60) is required to invoke cloture.
Reference:
Bill S.517
; vote number 2002-71
on Apr 18, 2002
Voted NO on terminating CAFE standards within 15 months.
Levin Amendment No. 2997; To provide alternative provisions to better encourage increased use of alternative fueled and hybrid vehicles. Vote to pass an amendment that would remove the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard (CAFE) and instead establish a new automobile efficiency standard in 15 months. Congress could veto any CAFE increase and would be allowed to increase the standard if no changes are made with 15 months. The bill would overhaul the nation's energy policies by restructuring the electricity system and providing for $16 billion in energy-related tax incentives.
Reference:
Bill S.517
; vote number 2002-47
on Mar 13, 2002
Voted NO on preserving budget for ANWR oil drilling.
Vote to preserve language in the Fiscal Year 2001 Budget Framework that assumes $1.2 billion in revenue from oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [ANWR] in Alaska.
Voted YES on ending discussion of CAFE fuel efficiency standards.
Senators Feinstein (D-CA) and Bryan (D-NV) introduced a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate towards ending CAFE Standards. Senator Gorton motioned to table this amendment. [A YES vote is considered pro-business].
Status: Amdt Rejected Y)40; N)55; NV)4
Reference: Gorton Amdt # 1677;
Bill H.R. 2084
; vote number 1999-275
on Sep 15, 1999
Voted NO on defunding renewable and solar energy.
In June of 1999, Senator Jeffords (R-VT) was prepared to offer an amendment which would have added $62 million to the Energy Department solar and renewable energy programs. This action was blocked by Senator Reid (D-NV).
Status: Motion Agreed to Y)60; N)39; NV)1
Reference: Motion to table the recommital;
Bill S. 1186
; vote number 1999-171
on Jun 16, 1999
Voted NO on approving a nuclear waste repository.
Approval of the interim nuclear waste repository. The repository would be located at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, with an integrated management system for storage and permanent disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Voting YES would authorize the President with sole and unreviewable discretion to determine the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site.
Status: Bill Passed Y)65; N)34; NV)1
Reference: Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997;
Bill S. 104
; vote number 1997-42
on Apr 15, 1997
Voted NO on do not require ethanol in gasoline.
Funding a mandated percentage of market share for the use of ethanol in gasoline, to be funded b reducing NASA budget b $39 million..
Status: Table Motion Agreed to Y)50; N)50; VP decided YES
Reference: Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1995;
Bill H.R. 4624
; vote number 1994-255
on Aug 3, 1994
Supports tradable emissions permits for greenhouse gases.
Lieberman signed the manifesto, "A New Agenda for the New Decade":
Modernize Environmental Policies National environmental policies, mostly developed in the 1970s, have been remarkably successful in improving the quality of our air and water. But we face a new set of environmental challenges for which the old strategy of centralized, command-and-control regulation is no longer effective.
The old regime of prohibitions and fines levied on polluters is not well equipped to tackle problems such as climate change, contamination of water from such sources as farm and suburban runoff, loss of open lands, and sprawl. Without relaxing our determination to maintain and enforce mandatory national standards for environmental quality, it is time to create more effective, efficient, and flexible ways of achieving those standards.
For example, a system of tradable emissions permits would give factories, power plants, and other sources of air pollution and greenhouse gases a powerful incentive not only to meet but to exceed environmental standards. Decisions about solving local environmental problems should be shifted from Washington to communities, without weakening national standards. Finally, to empower citizens and communities to make sound decisions, government should invest in improving the quality and availability of information about environmental conditions.
Goals for 2010
Create a domestic emissions trading system to reduce greenhouse gases by 10 percent.
Promote innovative agreements for community and regional partnerships to achieve national environmental goals and standards through local strategies.
End government subsidies for sprawl.
Source: The Hyde Park Declaration 00-DLC10 on Aug 1, 2000
Keep climate change in EPA "State of the Environment" report.
Lieberman signed a letter from 7 Senators to the President
Dear President Bush:
We are deeply disturbed to read reports this morning that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the White House have decided to omit data and language pertaining to climate change from the Agency's upcoming "State of the Environment" report. We would like to know if this is true. [Note: The section on climate change was indeed omitted–Ed.]
According to these reports, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) made decisions to delete from the "State of the Environment" report scientifically sound, consensus-based conclusions about the human contributions to global warming that have been confirmed by the National Research Council and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We would like to know why, and who within the Administration made this decision.
Perhaps most distressing are reports that Administration officials substituted into the report for the deleted language a
reference to a study partially funded by the American Petroleum Institute that questions the National Research Council's conclusions. If true, this action brings into question the ability and authority of the EPA or any agency within this Administration to publish unbiased scientific reports. This would dramatically weaken both Congressional and public confidence in the Administration to allow credible, peer-reviewed study to prevail over political agenda. If these reports are accurate, your Administration has done a serious disservice not only to the hard-working professionals at the EPA, but also to the American people and our future.
We request all drafts of the report as well as comments prepared by the EPA, OMB, & CEQ. We request a list of all participants involved in review of the document, including all Administration officials and entities outside the Administration. Furthermore, we ask that appropriate actions be taken regarding those responsible for doctoring this report.
Source: Letter from 7 Senators to the President 03-SEN7 on Jun 19, 2003
Keep efficient air conditioner rule to conserve energy.
Lieberman signed a letter from 53 Senators to the President
Mr. President: A recent federal court decision regarding energy efficient air conditioners is a significant victory for consumers, for the environment, and for our nation's energy future. We respectfully request that you do not appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second District (Natural Resources Defense Council et al v. Abraham, Docket 01-4102) affirmed that central air conditioners sold beginning in 2006 must be at least 30% more energy efficient than those available today.
Air conditioners are a necessary modern convenience but are also major users of electricity. On hot days, cooling homes and businesses is the largest category of electricity demand. Requiring air conditioners to be as energy efficient as possible will begin to reduce the stress on the electricity generation and transmission network and decrease the likelihood of blackouts that many regions of the country experience during warm weather conditions.
Air conditioners that meet the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating 13 standard will provide benefits for consumers, the environment, and the nation. The SEER 13 standard will alleviate the need for additional electricity production and transmission resulting in as many as 48 fewer power plants required by 2020. This standard will also result in less harmful air pollution being emitted into the atmosphere. Moreover, by 2020 power plant emissions of carbon dioxide will be 2.5 million tons lower as a result, and emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides will also be held down resulting in cleaner air and healthier citizens.
Finally, the higher standard can be expected to save businesses and residential consumers $1 billion per year in lower electricity bills. Lower electricity bills will recover the slightly higher purchase cost for the more efficient air conditioners in less than 18 months.
Source: Letter from 53 Senators to the President 04-SEN2 on Mar 19, 2004
Rated 100% by the CAF, indicating support for energy independence.
Lieberman scores 100% by CAF on energy issues
OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2005-2006 CAF scores as follows:
0% - 30%: opposition of energy independence (approx. 206 members)
30% - 70%: mixed record on energy independence (approx. 77 members)
70%-100%: support for energy independence (approx. 183 members)
About the CAF (from their website, www.ourfuture.org):
The Campaign for America's Future (CAF) is a center for ideas and action that works to build an enduring majority for progressive change. The Campaign advances a progressive economic agenda and a vision of the future that works for the many, not simply the few. The Campaign is leading the fight for America's priorities--against privatization of Social Security, for investment in energy independence, good jobs and a sustainable economy, for an ethical and accountable Congress and for high quality public education.
About the CAF report, "Energy Independence: Record vs. Rhetoric":
Energy independence has surfaced as a defining issue in the current elections. Are most candidates and both parties truly committed? To help distinguish the demonstrated level of support for homegrown, clean energy alternatives, we examined the voting records of current U.S. Representatives and Senators on bills vital to promoting those interests. Key pieces of legislation included goals for independence, and subsidies for the development of alternatives compared to subsidies for drilling and digging. We then compared votes on these issues with campaign contributions from major oil interests. The results show strong inverse correlations between political contributions from big oil and votes for energy independence.
Source: CAF "Energy Independence" Report 06n-CAF on Dec 31, 2006
