WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Sam Brownback today applauded final passage of a national energy policy.

“I am greatly pleased the Senate voted to send the Energy Bill to the President’s desk,” Brownback said. “This comprehensive piece of legislation is four years in the making and is long overdue. For too long our nation has suffered without a national energy policy. Finally, this will no longer be the case.”

Brownback cosponsored the Renewable Fuels Standard amendment that passed the conference committee. This will require that gas sold in the United States contain 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel by 2012, which will more than double the current market for renewable fuels in just seven years. Brownback noted this provision puts our nation on the path to energy independence, as well as helping Kansas farmers.

“This provision will increase farmers’ incomes by expanding current markets, creating jobs for rural America, helping our environment and decreasing our dependence on foreign oil.”

The energy bill also provides for increased domestic production of oil and natural gas, along with provisions for clean coal technology and new generation nuclear power plants. All of these provisions increase our nation’s energy independence and reduce our need for foreign sources of energy.

Brownback continued, “For too long our nation’s foreign policy has been dictated in part by our need for foreign oil. Through increased usage of renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel, enhanced domestic production of oil and natural gas, and new clean coal and nuclear technologies, the United States is taking a step towards energy independence.”

Brownback was first elected to the Senate to fill the unexpired term of Bob Dole in 1996. He was returned by the voters of Kansas for a full term in 1998, and reelected this past November. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1994-1996. Brownback serves on the Appropriations, Judiciary, and Joint Economic Committees. He also is chairman of the Helsinki Commission and co-chairman of the Senate Cancer Coalition.