Armed with what they view as an endorsement from President Barack Obama, U.S. Reps. John Sullivan and Dan Boren on Wednesday announced a revised version of legislation that offers tax credits to boost natural gas as a transportation fuel.
“Natural gas is a cleaner, cheaper, more abundant alternative to foreign oil, and it is in both our economic and national security interest to use the vast reserves we have right here in our own backyard as the bridge fuel towards energy security,” said Sullivan, R-Okla., vice chairman of the House Energy and Power Subcommittee.
“With gas prices approaching $4 to $5 per gallon, there is no time like the present to incorporate more natural gas vehicles into our transportation portfolio.”
Boren, D-Okla., called the proposal a game-changer, adding that its supporters are not only from energy-producing states.
He said the legislation offers members of Congress a unique opportunity to change the way Americans live.
They were joined by other supporters of the legislation as well as energy executive T. Boone Pickens, who has been pushing the use of natural gas as part of his own energy plan.
Pickens mentioned the current situation in the Middle East and North Africa, which has much of the world’s oil reserves.
In a March 30 speech on energy, Obama said the potential for natural gas is enormous and cited the support natural gas legislation had previously in Congress.
He also addressed pollution concerns some have linked to natural gas, saying he has asked Energy Secretary Steven Chu to work with the industry and states to improve the safety of extracting natural gas safely and without polluting water supplies.
Asked to respond to those concerns, Sullivan cited the safety record of the industry.
Tax credits in the bill would be tied to the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel, the production of vehicles and infrastructure.
Sullivan said the version of the bill he introduced Wednesday would limit those tax credits to five years, compared with the 17 years in earlier versions.
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