Senate+Bill+AMDT+1688

toc = = media type="file" key="Senate1688(JWEB).mp3"

= = =Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 = = =

Title
An amendment to the original Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. The amendment requires the president to submit an annual energy security to congress for approval. The bill in its entirety will attempt to move the United States toward greater energy independence and security.

Sponsor
[|Richard Burr]-Republican-Senator from North Carolina.

People Affected
Directly affects people who work in energy industries, the [|U.S. Department of Defense], the [|U.S. Department of Energy], and the [|U.S. Department of Homeland Security]. It indirectly affects everyone who uses energy (all of us).

History
Our Energy Security Problems:

Oil:
Our growing independence on Middle Eastern oil increases our commitment in an unstable region.

Also, 1⁄2 of our oil is imported, making it easy for terrorist organizations to disrupt our flow of oil either by blocking transportation routes, or by harming our oil tankers and pipelines.

Another problem is that our oil recourses are running low. Both China and the U.S. need lots of oil to sustain our economies, so China has been developing close ties with the Middle East by trading nuclear supplies to Iran for oil.

Nuclear Energy:
Our nuclear power plants are easy targets for terrorist attacks. If one of these plants was bombed, it would release deathly, cancer-causing radiation. Some fear a [|Chernobyl]repeat in the U.S.

We haven't found a way to dispose of nuclear waste that also causes cancer.

Summary
[|Click here] for full summary.

The purpose of this bill is the following: Our amendment requires the President to submit to Congress an annual energy security strategy report. Congress will have to approve on the report, this will also make the report and all of the Congressional votes public. Congress will try to improve, perfect, and find any flaws or loopholes in the report and either approve or send the bill back to the President. This bill was passed in the Senate by unanimous consent on 6-21-2007. Examples of specific strategies in the entire bill include:

--This bill also requires average cars to have at least 35 MPG by 2020. --Gives the Secretary of Energy the authority to create and implicate all and any programs necessary to meet this requirement. --Tells the Secretary of Treasury to give all funds collected from penalties of not meeting these standards to the Department of Transportation in order to make new facilities to manufacture advanced technologies and alternative fuels. --Establishes higher standards for certain energy-using devices including walk-in coolers and freezers. --Requires heavily energy-consuming companies to invest in new technologies in order to become more energy efficient.

Pictures
Thanks to Toucanradio for the picture.

Videos
media type="youtube" key="ExgOeiCyWYI" height="344" width="425" Representative Chris Van Hollen arguing for the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (House version).