mr. chairman , i claim the time in opposition , and i yield myself 3 minutes . 
madam chairman , i rise in opposition to the barton manager 's amendment . 
i have a number of concerns about the manager 's amendment . 
let me just begin by saying that inside of the bill there was a provision that i authored in the committee on energy and commerce that was accepted by the chair , by the majority . 
and then , without any consultation with me , this amendment has been taken out of the energy bill by the manager 's amendment which is being proposed here today . 
let me tell you a little bit about the change they are going to make without any consultation with me . 
now , when you think of all the pollution that comes out of smokestacks , that is created by the generation of electricity from coal-fired plants or from gas-fired plants to create electricity , well , that electricity is being created in order , for the most part , to keep our lights on , our air-conditioning on , to make sure that we can live in a modern society . 
now , at the department of energy , in the first 5 years of the bush administration , they have yet to have a new rulemaking that would improve the efficiency of any of these appliances . 
now , the cumulative impact of that is that we are going to see , unfortunately , several hundred new coal-fired or gas-fired generating plants constructed in america . 
now , what does that mean ? 
well , in addition to the cost to consumers who are going to have to pay for these new plants , you also have all of the additional pollution . 
we have 8 million children with asthma . 
we have a rise in breast cancer and prostate cancer and other diseases . 
more than 50 percent of all disease is environmentally based , coming from what we breathe , from the water that we drink . 
the majority , in its wisdom , has decided they are going to impose no burdens on anyone who makes any appliances in america , so they have to improve their efficiency , which is very typical of the entire bush administration 's approach to these technologies . 
but the impact of having all of these window air conditioners , furnaces , lighting fixtures , heat pumps , 3 years from now , 6 years from now , 10 years from now being just as inefficient as they were 5 years ago is that all this additional pollution has to go into the air : the carbon , the mercury , the sulfur , the nitrous oxide that is inhaled by children in our country . 
and i just think it is wrong , without any consultation with me , to take my amendment and put it in this manager 's amendment , to have it deleted from the bill . 
madam chairman , i reserve the balance of my time . 
