Tuesday, June 19, 2007

11:50Senators Speak on Amendment 1628 Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico spoke on behalf of Senator Bunning on another amendment to the Energy Bill that will promote the production of coal to liquid fuels.  Senator Domenici spoke against the Tester amendment due to the fact that the environmental protections may be too strong to allow the production of coal to liquids fuel, which undermines the whole idea of supporting these efforts.  Senator Domenici said that the Bunning amendment still provides environmental safeguards, while allowing the production of these fuels to provide for energy independence.  Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming also spoke in support of this amendment. 12:23:34 PM

11:35 Senators Speak on Coal to Liquid Amendment Senator Jon Tester of Montana spoke on an amendment he introduced to the Energy Bill which will provide government grants for the production of clean coal to liquid fuels.  Senator Tester believes that the government must provide incentives in order to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the coal industry.  Senator Tester said this amendment will move our country towards increased energy independence because coal is such an abundant resource in the United States.  Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia also supports technologies that will produce clean energy from coal since it is such a common and cheap source of energy.  12:15:33 PM

10:00 Senate Convenes The Senate will convene at 10:00 and will be in a period of morning business for up to 60 minutes, when the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 6, the Energy Bill.  The Senate will first debate and vote on two amendments relating to coal to liquids and will then consider and vote on several other amendments.  The Senate will recess from 1:00 until 2:15 for the weekly policy lunches.  The first votes are expected around 3:30 followed by additional votes later in the afternoon. 10:09:35 AM