BOISE, ID - Howard Dean today criticized the Senate for rejecting the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act and called for a new approach to energy policy.
"Today's vote on Senator McCain and Senator Lieberman's global warming pollution bill should be a wakeup call for Congress and the country on the stark choice before us. We can choose the Bush-Cheney approach that rejects the realities of global warming resulting in an energy policy written in secret by special interests like Ken Lay. This energy bill in Congress gives billions of dollars in handouts and preferential treatment to the fossil fuel industry and companies like Halliburton while doing nothing to promote clean, American, renewable energy. Or we can take a different path.
"This is always framed as an environmental issue. It is, but it is also about our economy and our security. Global warming, if it goes unchecked, will have serious negative consequences for our economy in the coming decades. Increasing our dependence on fossil fuels will make us more vulnerable to foreign interests like OPEC and result in a continued flow of funds to Middle East countries which use the proceeds to fund terror hatred and terror. I believe we must shift to a new energy economy, move away from fossil fuels and focus on clean, renewable, domestic energy sources that will enrich the American heartland, not Middle Eastern royalty and special interests like Halliburton. As I outlined in Iowa last week, my plan focuses on renewable energy, along with improving energy efficiency and taking real action on global warming. It will create jobs here in America, reduce our dependence on foreign fossil fuels and clean our air."
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