Enrolled SR 10: Supporting expansion of the use of domestic natural gas and alternative energies and urging agencies to use vehicles that run on compressed natural gas.
00Enrolled SR 10 01 Supporting expansion of the use of domestic natural gas and alternative energies and urging 02 agencies to use vehicles that run on compressed natural gas. 03 _______________ 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE: 05 WHEREAS the United States imports more than 65 percent of its petroleum, two- 06 thirds of which is used in the form of gasoline and diesel fuel to power vehicles; and 07 WHEREAS a large percentage of worldwide petroleum reserves are located in 08 politically volatile countries, making the United States vulnerable to supply disruptions; and 09 WHEREAS the United States has an abundance of natural gas; and 10 WHEREAS compressed natural gas provides safe, clean, reliable, efficient, and 11 secure energy and is the alternative fuel most used today for transportation in the United 12 States, with more than 200,000 buses, taxis, delivery vehicles, and other fleet vehicles across 13 the nation using compressed natural gas daily; and 14 WHEREAS the United States Department of Energy states that compressed natural 15 gas can be used as a replacement for gasoline in light-duty vehicles and as a replacement for 16 diesel in heavy-duty vehicles; and 17 WHEREAS vehicles powered by compressed natural gas discharge far fewer harmful
01 emissions than vehicles powered by gasoline or diesel fuel; and 02 WHEREAS studies indicate that maintenance costs for vehicles powered by 03 compressed natural gas are lower than for vehicles powered by gasoline or diesel fuel; and 04 WHEREAS the federal government currently provides, and is expected to increase, 05 incentives for use of alternative fuels, and, at the current prices of various fuels, any 06 additional cost to purchase vehicles to run on compressed natural gas would be quickly 07 recouped; and 08 WHEREAS, in 2009, the United States imported 4,350,000,000 barrels of oil, 09 spending roughly $265,000,000,000; and 10 WHEREAS 85,000,000 barrels of oil are produced daily around the world; and 11 WHEREAS 21,000,000 barrels of oil are used daily in the United States; and 12 WHEREAS world oil production has been declining since 2005; and 13 WHEREAS roughly 20 percent of every barrel of oil imported into the United States 14 is used to fuel the transport of goods around the country by road; 15 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Senate supports expanding the use of 16 domestic natural gas reserves and alternative energies to reduce our reliance on imported oil 17 by supporting H.R. 1835 and S. 1408, which are under consideration by the United States 18 Congress; and be it 19 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Senate urges state and federal 20 agencies to purchase, when possible, vehicles that can be converted to run on compressed 21 natural gas, when it is available. 22 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 23 the United States; the Honorable Dan Boren, U.S. Representative; the Honorable Robert 24 Menendez, U.S. Senator; the Honorable Sean Parnell, Governor of Alaska; and the Honorable 25 Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don 26 Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.