Energy

With gas prices soaring to unimaginable heights, Washington is obligated to take immediate action to protect the American people. It is simply unacceptable to stand by as this crisis gets worse by the day. John knows that we must take action NOW. We must implement an energy plan that will drastically reduce our dependence on foreign oil, bring down the price of gas and create new jobs and businesses.

Over the last seven years, President Bush and Congressional Republicans have failed to address America's need for an independent, self-sufficient energy program and to invest in renewable sources of energy. Their failure to address our urgent energy needs has increased our reliance on foreign oil, putting this nation's long-term economic stability and national security at risk.

While families and businesses across the country are being squeezed financially, oil companies are reaping record high profits. Now more than ever, we need leaders in Congress like John Adler who offer fresh, innovative ideas to our most persistent problems. John will push to invest in renewable energy to lower gas prices, create new jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. He will work in a bipartisan way to find commonsense solutions to America's energy needs.

Short-Term solutions

Middle-class families across the district are getting hammered by gas prices at the pump. When President Bush took office, a gallon of gas cost $1.46. Today it is more than $4 a gallon and heading toward $5 a gallon this summer. While average Americans are suffering, President Bush and Congressional Republicans have provided $17 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies to the big oil companies responsible for the pain being inflicted on consumers. As your congressman, John will put the interests of our middle-class families here in New Jersey first by investing in this country and making us energy independent. John will support efforts under way to give middle-class families relief at the pump by:

• Renewing production tax credits for wind and solar power due to expire December 31, 2008.
• Prosecuting oil companies that practice price gouging.
• Temporarily halting shipments to the Strategic Petroleum reserve.
• Enforcing the Gas Price Relief for Consumers Act that authorizes the Justice Department to investigate price gouging and take legal action against OPEC state-controlled entities that collude to limit the supply or fix the price of oil.
• Eliminating billions of dollars in tax subsidies to big oil companies.
• Closing the so-called "Enron Loophole" that allows unregulated speculation and price manipulation in the commodities market by big-oil interests, driving up the price of oil and natural gas at the expense of the consumer.

Long-Term solutions

Our dependence on foreign oil not only is a risk to our long-term economic stability but also threatens our national security. Investing in clean, self-sufficient sources of energy such as wind, solar, bio-diesel and geothermal can reduce our dependence on foreign oil, give consumers relief at the pump and create new jobs and businesses. John will fight for such a long-term energy plan even, in the face of continued resistance by the Republicans in Congress, by taking the following steps:

• Invest in wind, solar, bio-diesel, geothermal, and other sources of renewable energy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and fossil fuels.
• Establish the renewable electricity standard at 25 percent for renewable energy sources such as wind and solar by 2025.
• Provide tax incentives for energy-efficient buildings and appliances.
• Provide incentives to people who use clean, alternative energy and companies that produce it.
• Set new mileage standards for all cars at 40 miles per gallon
• Mandate carbon-neutral federal offices. Half of the energy used by the federal government goes toward powering over 500,000 federal buildings around the country, at a cost to taxpayers of more than $5 billion.

We are a great nation largely because we have conquered great challenges. John knows that we can – and we will - solve the energy crisis facing us today. We can recharge our economy and lead the world into a stronger economic future by investing in a self-sufficient, independent clean energy program that creates jobs here at home, saves middle-class families and small businesses money, and makes America energy-independent.