WASHINGTON - November 21 -The Senate’s vote to reject this anti-environment, anti-consumer energy bill is a huge victory for anyone who drinks the water, breathes the air, pays the utility bills or pays the taxes.

We are pleased that instead of rewarding the dirty, unsustainable and unreliable sources of energy being promoted by industry lobbyists in Washington, the Senate chose to pursue a smarter, cleaner energy future for America’s consumers.

The energy bill would have:

• Let polluters off the hook for cleanup of contaminated groundwater sites.
  
• Delayed clean up of air pollution in smoggy areas.
  
• Increased our dependence on oil.
  
• Failed to harness the potential for diversifying our energy supply to include clean renewable energy sources.
  
• Authorized programs that increase the risk of nuclear proliferation.
  
• Weakened important drinking water and surface water protections.
  
• Further exposed electricity consumers to future Enrons and blackouts.
  
• Squandered at least $37 billion in taxpayer handouts to oil, gas, nuclear and other dirty energy sources, while giving less than half that amount to clean energy sources such as solar, wind and energy efficiency.
  

America deserves a clean safe energy future. We look forward to working for an energy policy that makes our electricity supply more reliable and prevents future Enron-type scandals, promotes clean, efficient, renewable energy like wind and solar power, protects the environment, cuts global warming pollution and moves America forward..

We applaud the Senate for rejecting this pork-ridden excuse for energy policy and standing up for the public instead of the polluters.

U.S. PIRG is the national lobbying office for the state Public Interest Research Groups. State PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organizations.