Our nation is experiencing an energy crisis. As I visit communities throughout Maine, I hear time and again that the high cost of energy is imposing a tremendous burden on so many families. High prices for home heating oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel are a crushing burden for many truckers, farmers, fishermen, mills, and small businesses. Energy prices are a major reason for our economic downturn.

But rather than deal with this crisis in a meaningful way, Congress instead voted to adjourn and take the month of August off at the same time that many families had to cancel family vacations they could not afford. This is unacceptable.

I voted against this motion to adjourn, which passed the House by a one-vote margin. Prior to adjourning, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced a consensus energy plan that would increase domestic production to further the goal of energy independence and help combat high prices. I support this plan and believe it is a promising step forward in addressing the energy crisis.

Oil is not our nation’s future, but it is our present. So we must immediately produce more here at home. Our step forward must also include conservation and pursuing alternative sources of energy.

This consensus bill would provide for increased production in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of states from Virginia to Georgia, while prohibiting any drilling in the Gulf of Maine. It also leaves in place the current moratorium on drilling anywhere off New England’s coasts. I strongly support these moratoria.

Expanded production from the Gulf of Mexico could yield results relatively quickly because the infrastructure of pipelines and refineries is already largely in place.

This plan includes environmental safeguards as well as protections for states that decide against drilling.

It also includes my proposal to double funding for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). This program has proven to be an effective resource to help families weatherize their homes and decrease energy costs by an average of 32 percent.

Similar to my comprehensive “Energy Assistance Act,” the bipartisan plan also would eliminate needless tax breaks for big oil companies, which are reporting multi-billion dollar profits. This is an action that I have long advocated, most recently with a bipartisan amendment to the FY 2009 Budget. The billions of dollars from these subsidies for big oil would be much better spent on tax credits for consumers who invest in energy conservation and for supporting the increased production of renewable energy.

The bipartisan plan also includes tax incentives for the purchase of hybrid vehicles and other energy saving measures.

In looking ahead to our future, there are many great ideas to help us achieve energy independence, a goal that I believe America should aim to reach by 2020.

For example, T. Boone Pickens testified before the Homeland Security Committee, of which I am ranking member, about the enormous potential of wind energy. His plan, which I believe deserves careful consideration, would reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil by an estimated 38 percent by using wind energy to generate electricity in the Midwest.

He would also increase the use of natural gas for transportation while our nation continues to pursue alternative energy sources.

The cost of implementing this plan is equivalent to what the U.S. spends on foreign oil in just one year.

There is also promising wind energy development happening right here in Maine. University of Maine Professor Habib Dagher, an expert on off-shore wind and geothermal energy, testified that Maine is well positioned to help lead us into this future. He called the Gulf of Maine the “Saudi Arabia of Wind,” an advantage that could enable Maine to diversify its electricity supply and decrease its reliance on heating oil. Deep water wind production, out-of-sight from land, could provide an abundant source of renewable energy while creating thousands of new jobs.

This hearing addressed one of the “Three W’s” of alternative energy: wind, water, and wood. There is also potential in generating energy through the power of our tides and ocean currents. And I am continuing to press for my tax credit proposal for the purchase of clean-burning wood and wood pellet stoves, which would help reduce home heating costs.

Congress should also look at the compelling evidence that excessive speculation of futures markets is one factor, among many, causing high energy prices. Unlike commercial traders such as oil companies and heating oil dealers, farmers and cereal companies, speculators are non-commercial traders who invest solely for financial gain. They do not produce or take delivery of oil or agricultural products. Sen. Joe Lieberman and I have held hearings on this matter and introduced legislation that would take strong steps toward countering excessive speculation.

Our nation does not need a Republican or a Democratic energy plan. We need an American energy plan. Congress must consider plans such as the bipartisan consensus energy plan. And it must do so immediately.

Sen. Susan Collins is Maine’s junior senator.