WASHINGTON, DC - After passage of the CLEAN Energy Act (HR6) late last night, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement: “The energy bill passed by the Senate takes an important step forward to increase our energy, economic, and environmental security. It also begins to reverse outdated policies that did not invest in new alternative technologies, but gave tax breaks to oil companies even as they reaped record profits. And the CAFE standard increase contained in the bill is long overdue. “Unfortunately, some important provisions were left out of this bill. Opposition scuttled an attempt to establish a renewable portfolio standard to require that 15% of electricity from power plants is produced with renewable resources. This is something that I have long advocated.
“Also, I was disappointed that efforts to repeal oil company tax breaks and reinvest that money in alternative and renewable fuels were blocked. I voted to move forward with legislation passed with bipartisan support by the Finance Committee. This legislation was similar to a bill and an amendment to the energy bill that I introduced to repeal and reinvest oil company tax breaks.”
