Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), responding to energy points President Bush raised in his 2008 State of the Union address on Jan. 28:
"Just a few weeks ago, Congress passed, and the president signed in to law, a landmark energy bill that promotes higher fuel efficiency standards and biofuels, and develops greener technologies. However, there is much, much more that needs to be done.
"If we want to get beyond petroleum, we have to stop subsidizing it. It is time to get to the heart of the matter. We have to level the playing field by taking away embedded subsidies for mature and profitable industries and lending a hand to emerging new alternative technologies and provide competition in the marketplace.
"We have to begin now to develop new alternative energy technologies. In order to make a sizable shift in our energy production and consumption we need to get infrastructure up and running. These alternative technologies need to be commercialized to get costs to a competitive level.
"We have to increase our investment in renewable and energy efficiency, protect consumers from price gouging and market manipulation, and make real steps toward increasing our energy independence instead of enabling our dependence. I look forward to working with my colleagues and a new administration on moving our country forward toward energy independence."