mr. chairman , today congress took a significant step in establishing a comprehensive national energy plan to help lower gas prices and improve the reliability and accessibility of energy in wisconsin .  this legislation contains language i strongly support to reduce the price spikes caused by `` boutique fuels '' and helps expand the domestic supply of oil and gas .  this energy bill requires five billion gallons of renewable fuel to be included in all gasoline sold in the united states by 2015 .  this increased use of ethanol will save 1.3 billion barrels of oil by 2016 while helping support our rural economy .  our nation 's electricity grid will also see considerable improvement .  the bill provides for enforceable mechanisms to ensure reliability and stop future blackouts .  although i am generally pleased by the passage of the energy bill , it nevertheless contains some disappointing provisions , and i will be working expeditiously in the weeks to come to improve the bill even further .  in particular , i plan to push for the inclusion of a ban on oil and gas drilling in the great lakes .  the great lakes represent a critical and treasured part of our environment , our economy and our identity .  the risks drilling poses to the lakes are unacceptable .  i will also continue to lend my support to the effort to remove special liability protections for mtbe .  we unfortunately came up short today to strip this mtbe language , but i 'll keep up the fight until this provision is removed .  the manufacturers of mtbe should not be shielded from their responsibility to clean up contaminated groundwater .  