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Legislation to Enhance US-Israel Energy Research Cooperation

The United States cannot continue to rely on foreign oil as its principle source of fuel for transportation, electrical generation and heating. We see a warning of things to come right now, as gas prices soar well over two dollars per gallon due to the artificial scarcity created by the oil-producing countries and their OPEC cartel.


Many of the regimes which most benefit from high oil prices are controlled by despots who seek to do the United States no favors. With oil prices still hovering well over $40/per barrel, states such as Iran and Sudan have literally almost twice the money they had only a few years ago to expend on the development of nuclear weapons and genocidal warfare.

We provide little funding for research into alternative energy sources, and actually have had a number of policies in place to encourage even greater consumption of foreign oil. For instance, only this year did we repeal tax breaks for the purchase of the largest SUV (only those over 6000 pounds). I have supported increased funding for research into alternative energy. I also introduced successful legislation to provide tax incentives for the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles (such as hybrids) and have introduced legislation to allow states to allow high-mileage hybrids to use the diamond (HOV) lanes.

In order to increase international cooperation in the area of energy development, I have introduced legislation -- United States-Israel Energy Cooperation Act -- to provide for a bi-national commission to support Israeli and American enterprise in the area of alternative energy development. The Commission will identify and fund promising joint ventures that seek to develop solar, wind, electric and other non-petroleum sources of energy and improve the efficiency of the energy sources we already have.