04.10.07

Cantwell, Senate Energy Leaders Call for U.S.-China Summit to Improve Energy Cooperation

Senators call on president to implement coordinated, mutually beneficial energy policy, cite China's potential as market for U.S. energy technologies

WASHINGTON, DC - Tuesday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) led other Senate energy leaders in urging President Bush to implement a comprehensive, mutually-beneficial U.S.-China energy policy. The bipartisan group of senators, which included the chairs of the Energy, Finance, Foreign Relations, and Homeland Security Committees, cited global climate change concerns, China's potential as a strong market for new U.S. energy technologies, and the importance of preventing tension between the world's two largest energy importers. To help improve cooperation and develop a coordinated energy policy, the senators called on President Bush to hold an energy summit with China as soon as this year.

"Enhancing energy cooperation with China will make our country and economy stronger, more stable, and more secure," said Cantwell. "Continued engagement on energy through bilateral talks is vital and will help us launch an energy policy that benefits both our countries. It will open a tremendous new market for clean fuel technologies, confront growing greenhouse gas emissions, and help us avoid debilitating supply shocks."

Cantwell and her colleagues called for a comprehensive U.S.-China energy policy and U.S.-China energy summit in a letter sent to President Bush on Tuesday. Energy Committee Chair Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT), Foreign Relations Committee Chair Joe Biden (D-DE), Homeland Security Committee Chair Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), and Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Gordon Smith (R-OR), George Voinovich (R-OH), John Kerry (D-MA), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) all signed on to Cantwell's letter.

"As the world's two largest energy importing nations, the U.S. and China are both negatively impacted by high oil and gas prices and have a common interest in avoiding global supply shocks and lessening reliance on supplies from unstable regions of the world," wrote Cantwell and her colleagues. "...The way we approach global energy issues will affect the international economy and the world's environment for decades to come. ...A bilateral U.S.-China energy policy and a summit between our nations focused on ways to cooperate on energy issues would have tremendous economic, environmental, and security benefits for both our nations."

Last November, Cantwell led a women's business and leadership delegation on a trip to China. During her stay, Cantwell invited a Chinese delegation to visit Washington state to continue discussions on energy, environmental issues, and trade. China's National Development and Reform Commission committed to visiting Washington state in 2007 to explore U.S. clean energy technology. The letter sent Tuesday asks Bush to use this opportunity for comprehensive bilateral energy talks.

Cantwell has long worked to promote the development of clean energy technologies and to open new markets for these products. In October 2005, Cantwell convened the BioFuels Business Collaborative—a group of Washington businesses, farmers, investors, and consumers—to help create a local biofuels industry in Washington state. Last October in Grays Harbor County, Washington, Cantwell visited the construction site of what will be the nation's largest biofuels plant and a cornerstone of the emerging Northwest biofuels industry. In July 2006, at the Washington Council on International Trade's annual conference in Seattle, Cantwell laid out concrete steps to improve U.S.-China energy cooperation, including a plan for a presidential energy summit between the U.S. and China and a U.S.-China Energy Working Group with cabinet level leadership.

Energy technologies developed in the Pacific Northwest with the potential for export to China include power grid management software, smart meters, new power transmission technology, and biomass and biofuels-related innovations.

[The senators' letter to President Bush follows below]

April 10, 2007

Dear President Bush:

We are writing to urge you to develop and implement a comprehensive bilateral U.S.-China energy policy. As the world's two largest energy importing nations, the U.S. and China are both negatively impacted by high oil and gas prices and have a common interest in avoiding global supply shocks and lessening reliance on supplies from unstable regions of the world.

We appreciate that previous efforts have been made in this area, including bilateral discussions in 1997 and 1998, and we support the ongoing cabinet-level U.S. China Energy Dialogue that is part of the U.S. China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED). However, we believe more must be done to address this critical issue.

In 2000, Congress chartered the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission to report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the two countries. In its 2006 Annual Report to Congress, the Commission recommended support for the Administration's current energy policy dialogues with China, but also called on Congress to "urge the Administration to seek additional opportunities for the United States to assist China to increase energy efficiency, reduce pollution from energy consumption, and facilitate the use of alternative fuels."

We believe a cooperative, mutually-beneficial energy policy could help avoid future tensions between the U.S. and China over limited and geographically constrained energy resources. In addition, both nations would profit from a more diverse array of clean energy sources —including wind, solar, biofuels, and clean coal—and the increased productivity and cost-savings associated with adopting energy efficiency technologies. Moreover, modernizing China's domestic energy infrastructure will require an estimated $35 billion per year for the foreseeable future, providing a tremendous opportunity to export existing and emerging American technologies, products, and services, and lessen our nation's trade deficit.

Given these common challenges and the short- and long-term benefits to the United States, we hope you will consider holding a U.S.-China summit as soon as this year. Last fall, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) committed to visiting Washington state in 2007 to explore U.S. clean energy technology, and we hope you will build and expand on this opportunity.

The way we approach global energy issues will affect the international economy and the world's environment for decades to come. China's energy use has grown at 15 percent per year and is slated to become the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter by 2009. A bilateral U.S. - China energy policy and a summit between our nations focused on ways to cooperate on energy issues would have tremendous economic, environmental, and security benefits for both our nations. We look forward to working with you toward these ends.

Sincerely,

Maria Cantwell, Jeff Bingaman, Max Baucus, Joe Biden, Joe Lieberman, Dianne Feinstein, Ron Wyden, Gordon Smith, George Voinovich, John Kerry, Patty Murray, and Lisa Murkowski.

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