mr. speaker , i rise in strong opposition to h.r. 3893 , the `` second energy special interest act of 2005. '' the bush administration 's energy policy and the machinations of the republican leadership on this subject have an alice in wonderland quality . 
it was the vice president , after all , who said that energy conservation may have been a virtue but it was no basis for a national energy policy . 
yet just last week the president was compelled by circumstances to urge the only things that are really going to work to get us out of this energy crisis : conservation , the use of mass transit , and changing american driving habits . 
unfortunately , the administration has not put forward any concrete proposals or recommendations for conservation initiatives . 
instead , he has cut funding for the conservation and efficiency programs we already have in place . 
it is unconscionable that this most recent energy bill completely misses the point . 
we 're not going to drill , dig , and subsidize our way out of this energy crisis . 
burning money is not an efficient way to produce energy . 
we must have an energy program for this century , not the 1950s . 
this new energy policy should consist of more efficiency , new technology , and less petroleum . 
if we 're going to spend more money , it should be invested in programs that actually help people . 
higher fuel efficiency standards , public transit , and even bicycles , will do much more to reduce our dependence on foreign oil than what 's in this bill . 
if just two percent of trips taken nationwide were taken by bikes , we would save more than two thirds of a billion gallons of gasoline a year and up to $ 5 billion in total consumer driving costs . 
increasing fuel economy standards by a mere 1.5 miles per gallon -- less than 10 percent -- over the next 10 years would save more oil than we currently import from the persian gulf and more than we could ever recover from the arctic national wildlife refuge , combined . 
last but not least , this bill 's focus on making it easier to build more refineries by limiting our environmental standards completely misses the point . 
the fact is , the energy industry makes more money by restricting refinery capacity ; the refiners ' profits have jumped 80 percent over the past 5 years . 
as long as the oil companies stand to make more money with limited supply , this approach is doomed to fail . 
this energy bill is not only a missed opportunity , but it is a cynical effort by washington republicans to exploit the tragedy of hurricanes katrina and rita to give more subsidies to oil companies and to roll back environmental laws . 
