Senator Susan Collins today voted in support of cloture to enable the Senate to consider the “Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008.” Following the cloture vote, Senator Collins released this statement:
“This legislation contains a number of key provisions that I support. For example, this bill eliminates $17 billion in tax subsidies that benefit big oil and gas companies and instead directs these dollars to renewable energy development and energy efficient technologies. With net profits of a single oil company reaching $10 billion in a single quarter, we should not expect struggling taxpayers to continue to subsidize this industry.
“This provision builds on legislation that Senator Levin and I authored and that was included in this year’s budget. And it is similar to a key provision of my 10-point energy plan.
“This bill also increases transparency into energy futures markets, an issue that the Homeland Security Committee, of which I am Ranking Member, is closely examining. The bill would also allow the U.S. Attorney General to bring an enforcement action against any country or company that is colluding to set the price of oil. During this time of record high energy prices, we need to ensure that energy prices are not driven by factors having nothing to do with supply and demand.
“While this legislation is not perfect, on balance, it includes many good provisions to begin to address the high cost of energy. At a time when American families throughout the nation are struggling with the high cost of energy, the Senate must seize every opportunity to address this issue. This bill deserves further consideration by the U.S. Senate.”