SODO - Some major movers and shakers joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a press conference last week to promote alternative fuel sources in an effort to make America independent of foreign oil for its energy needs.
The April 13 press conference was held at Seattle Biodiesel's manufacturing plant in South Seattle.
"It's a small company trying to make a big difference," said John Plaza, CEO of Imperium Renewables, the parent company of Seattle Biodiesel.
THE TIME IS NOW
Pelosi noted that Democrats now hold a majority in both houses of Congress, and that's changed the equation over the country's approach to energy.
"Now we intend to get something done," she stressed.
Putting a stop to global warming is one front in the fight, the Californian politician said. However, it's not the only one in what Pelosi described as an innovative agenda promoted by Democrats.
"One of the primary issues was energy independence," she explained.
Pelosi has asked House members to submit goals and milestones by June 1 so that she can prepare an energy-independence bill for a vote by the beginning of July, she said.
Seattle Biodiesel uses canola and soybean oil from crops grown in the state to make its fuel, said company spokesman John Williams. It's that kind of local connection that's key, according to Pelosi.
"American farmers will fuel America's energy independence. Washington state is in the lead," Pelosi said of such efforts. She also had high praise for Mayor Greg Nickels and King County Executive Ron Sims for their part in the effort.
Sims noted that the county is Seattle Biodiesel's biggest customer because it uses the company's biodiesel in its bus fleet, the largest fleet in the country to do that. The county's truck fleet will also be converted so they can use biodiesel, he added.
The fuel cuts down on air pollution by reducing particulates in engine emissions, but there's another benefit, according to Sims.
"We have found that biofuels are simply a smart business decision," asserted Sims.
Nickels has taken the lead nationally in convincing mayors to try and cut down on greenhouse gases in their cities, and he noted that Seattle is responsible for consuming a huge amount of energy.
That has led some to label cities the problem, the mayor conceded. He doesn't buy the argument.
"We think cities are the solution," said Nickels.
Governor Chris Gregoire praised Seattle Biodiesel for its innovative spirit, mentioning that the company plant uses salvaged tanks from the old Rainier Brewery. But she also mentioned that the company is building a new biodiesel manufacturing plant in Hoquiam, Wash., on the shores of Gray's Harbor.
It's a major undertaking, and the plant will be able to produce 100 million gallons of biodiesel a year when it goes online next July, said company spokesman Williams.
Gregoire also said the state Legislature passed a bipartisan bill addressing the global climate the night before the press conference. But the governor also gave a nod to Pelosi's efforts, saying: "Madam Speaker, you are breaking new ground in Washington, D.C."
Congressman Jay Inslee said he and fellow congressional-delegation members Jim McDermott and Norm Dicks have put forward energy legislation time and time again in the past.
"Now the legislation will pass," Inslee said.
Last year, Dicks said, he tried to put forward a resolution recognizing that global warning is a reality. The resolution passed the House Appropriations Committee, but it never made it to the floor for a vote, he said.
"That's going to be different this year," Dicks promised.
CLEANING UP
McDermott said that Seattle is a city that "walks the talk" on conservation, and McDermott kidded Dicks by saying he and Inslee each drive a hybrid Prius and asking when Dicks would follow suit. Dicks, it turns out, had just bought a hybrid himself, he countered.
McDermott said Pelosi has targeted big oil for money to develop a green agenda in the other Washington.
"That is what's going to turn this country around, leadership," he said of an effort that cancelled $14 billion in tax breaks for oil companies.
"That was the first shot," Inslee said of the charge for change. "We're going to do with energy what John F. Kennedy did for space," he crowed.
One reporter at the press conference asked if increasing the tax on gasoline might cut down on pollution and reduce global warming.
"We have many other remedies to exhaust before we get to taxes," Pelosi said.
Conservation, efficiency and funding for alternative fuels is a better route to take, she added.
"The point is, this is about cleaning up the environment, not just energy independence," Pelosi stated.
Judging from the reactions by some to Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," not everyone buys into the argument that global warming exists and that even if it does, it's not caused by people.
Pelosi conceded that there are some in denial about global warming, but she said there is bipartisan support for taking action about the problem. "First of all, it's urgent," Pelosi said.
Inslee said Congress has held several hearings about global warming. "And not one single witness - included ones called by Republicans - have questioned that we are responsible for global warming," he said. "We have driven a nail in the flat-earth coffin on global warming," is how the congressman put it.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com.[[In-content Ad]]
