Energy Press Releases

10/08/2004

Smith Supports Ag-Energy Provisions in Corporate Tax Bill Rep. Nick Smith (R-Addison), a senior member of the House Agriculture Committee, voted in favor of the American Jobs Creation Act. This legislation ends tariffs on American manufacturers and farmers and provides tax relief to domestic manufacturers to make them more competitive both at home and abroad. Specifically, Smith was pleased with some of the agriculture related provisions.

06/16/2004

Smith Comments on Refinery Shortage and Gasoline Prices Rep. Nick Smith (R-Addison) voted today to pass H.R. 4517, the U.S. Refinery Revitalization Act of 2004. This legislation directs the Secretary of Energy to designate any area that has experienced mass layoffs at manufacturing facilities or contains an idle refinery, and also has an unemployment rate of at least 20 percent above the national average as a Refinery Revitalization Zone.

06/15/2004

Smith Comments on Passage of Energy Bill Rep. Nick Smith (R-Addison) voted today to pass H.R. 4503, the Energy Policy Act of 2004. This legislation mirrors the Energy Bill that passed the House last November, only to stall in the Senate.

11/21/2003

Smith Comments on Agriculture Provisions in Energy Bill Congressman Nick Smith (R-Addison) praised conferees on the Energy Policy Act, H.R. 6, for including provisions beneficial to agriculture. H.R. 6 passed the House 246-180, and is currently being debated in the Senate.

11/18/2003

Energy Bill Passes House with Smith Amendments Congressman Nick Smith (R-Addison) voted today to pass the conference report for the Energy Policy Act, H.R. 6. It will be the first comprehensive energy bill passed by Congress in over a decade. The bill includes amendments Smith worked to put in the bill, including nitrogen fixation, encouraging nuclear power, clean coal research, and school bus emissions. The Science Committee, where Smith serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Research had partial jurisdiction over the bill.

04/03/2003

Nick Smith Comments on Energy Issues Yesterday (Wednesday, April 2nd ) the House Science Committee voted out the Energy Bill of 2003, H.R. 238. Following is the statement by Congressman Nick Smith (MI-7), Chairman of Science Research Subcommittee.

12/06/2002

Smith and Kaptur Host Biofuels Conference Congressman Nick Smith (MI-07) and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) will host the Ohio/Michigan Biofuels Conference in Perrysburg, Ohio on Monday. The conference will address issues, policies, and opportunities concerning the development of ethanol and diesel fuel from agricultural crops.

02/08/2002

Smith Offers Comments On New FreedomCAR Program U.S. Representative Nick Smith (R-MI), who chairs the Subcommittee on Research and served as former energy advisor to President Nixon, said today in response to a Science Committee hearing on the future of the Department of Energy’s Automotive Research Programs, "We need to take action to give stability to our automotive energy markets by decreasing our dependence on foreign sources of oil. I hope that FreedomCAR can work with the automotive industry by making further progress toward cost-effective alternatives."

09/13/2001

Smith Cautions Gas Companies U.S. Rep. Nick Smith (R-Addison) is cautioning gas wholesalers and retailers not to take advantage of the current tensions in the Middle East, related to yesterday’s terrorist attack on the United States, by unnecessarily inflating profit margins for fuel.

08/01/2001

House to Vote on Amendment That Will Force Massive GM Layoffs U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) has offered an amendment to President Bush's energy bill, which is scheduled to be voted on this afternoon, that will force automakers to lay off as many as 135,000 workers. Boehlert's amendment would force an increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, also known as CAFE standards.

05/16/2001

Press Conference on America's Energy Challenges Congressman Nick Smith (R-Addison) will hold a press conference regarding the state of national energy concerns. The rising price of gasoline and home heating fuel and its impact on Michigan consumers as well as the costs to farmers are a serious concern.

01/04/2001

Smith Applauds Abraham Energy Appointment "Today's selection of Senator Spencer Abraham is good news for Michigan. For too long America's energy resources have been skewed towards high consumption areas such as the Northeast.

09/29/2000

America Needs an Effective Domestic Energy Policy U.S. Representative Nick Smith (R-MI) today stated that decreasing America's dependence on foreign energy must be a top priority and questioned the Clinton/Gore decision to take oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

09/07/2000

Smith Co-Sponsors Legislation to Improve Pipeline Safety "Generally speaking, pipelines are one of the safest modes of product transportation, but as we have seen, most recently in Jackson County, they also have the potential to cause tremendous damage when not maintained properly."

06/06/2000

Smith Concerned as Gas Prices Continue to Rise "The basic fact is that under this Administration our country has become more dependent on imported energy resources."

03/22/2000

Smith Criticizes Clinton/Gore Energy Policy Concerned by the dramatic increase in local gasoline prices, U.S. Rep. Nick Smith (R-MI) today hailed the passage of the Oil Price Reduction Act, calling on President Clinton and Vice-President Gore to stop discouraging domestic energy production.