[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 6, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1066-S1067]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID:
  S. 249. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand 
the credit for electricity produced from certain renewable resources; 
to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the bill I have introduced expands the 
existing production tax credit for renewable energy technology to cover 
all renewable energy technologies.
  We have a crisis in America today. It is called electricity. It is 
called power. What took place and is taking place in California is only 
a preview of things that are going to happen all over America unless we 
do something about it. It is time to recognize the present system isn't 
working.
  We can criticize California and what they did. It is obvious to 
everyone that their deregulation program simply was not workable. It 
wasn't workable because they were energy inefficient. They did not 
produce enough energy inside the State of California for the

[[Page S1067]]

deregulation bill they passed to work. The only time a deregulation 
bill such as they had would work is if you have a State that produces 
more electricity than it uses. There are some examples of that. 
California, however, decided they were going to deregulate, even though 
they didn't have enough electricity produced within the State. They 
figured they could buy cheap power elsewhere and have it brought into 
California. It was a recipe for disaster. The disaster hit. They are 
now trying to work their way out of the problem.
  There is no question that the current energy crisis in California has 
demonstrated that America must diversify its energy mix. Already in 
Nevada electricity rates have risen six times; the natural gas price 
has increased more than 75 percent. This is a real problem. All we have 
to do is look around. I have a letter from a man named Ronald Feldstein 
from Carson City, NV. Among other things, he said: I was horrified to 
read that Southwest Gas was increasing our gas bills 35 percent 
effective February 1. Nevada is a poor State, mostly composed of senior 
retired citizens.
  I add editorially, that isn't true, but we do have lots and lots of 
senior citizens. To the author of this letter, it seems the State of 
Nevada is composed mostly of senior citizens.
  Last month, he says, his Southwest Gas bill was over $100; a 35-
percent increase will mean an additional $35 on his electricity bill. 
The only way a senior can afford such a huge increase is to give up 
something. In other words, lower his standard of living. That usually 
means giving up a certain prescription drug or lowering his food bill.
  He went on to say other things, but I think that conveys the problem 
we have in Nevada, and people all over America are about to have; that 
is, a huge increase in the price of fuel energy.
  Ensuring that the lights and heat stay on is critical to sustaining 
America's economic growth and our quality of life. The citizens of 
Nevada and of this Nation demand a national energy strategy to ensure 
their economic well-being and security, and to provide for the quality 
of life they deserve.
  It is a sad state of affairs that people like Mr. Feldstein, which 
can be multiplied in the State of Nevada thousands and thousands of 
times, have to make significant sacrifices to pay their energy bills. 
People are saying: I'm going to have to cut back on my prescriptions. I 
will have to cut back on the food I buy because I have a fixed income, 
and these power bills must be paid because I can't go without heat. 
Carson City, NV, is a cold place in the winter.
  Nevadans understand that a national energy strategy must encompass 
something other than what we are doing. What we are doing now does not 
work. We are depending mostly on importing oil, and people who import 
the oil are manipulating the price and that price is going sky high. We 
have to do something different. Of course, we have to do something 
about conservation. We must be more efficient. We must also expand our 
generating capacity. How are we going to do that? There are some who 
say that one of the ways is to do something with clean coal technology. 
That is something I am willing to take a look at, hopefully, so we can 
reduce the global warming problem when it is necessary to use coal. But 
it is difficult to significantly reduce harmful emissions with coal.

  I have supported clean coal technology. We have a plant near Reno, 
NV, that started out with clean coal technology. It is important we do 
that. We are not going to develop any more nuclear powerplants in 
America in the foreseeable future. There are too many problems. It is 
too expensive. We have no way of disposing of the waste.
  What else can we do? We have powerplants now, but the primary way 
they can be constructed is if they are fueled by natural gas. The cost 
of natural gas has gone way up.
  What else can we do? I think one of the things we can do is develop 
renewable energy resources. This is a responsible way to expand our 
power capacity without compromising air or water quality.
  Fossil fuel plants pump out over 11 million tons of pollutants into 
our air each year. This is not 11 million pounds, but tons, into our 
air each year. Powerplants in the United States are responsible for 35 
percent of our national carbon dioxide emissions which contribute to 
global climate change, global warming. Powerplants in the United States 
are responsible for 66 percent of sulphur dioxide, which causes acid 
rain, 25 percent of nitrogen oxides, which lead to smog, and 21 percent 
of mercury, which poisons fish and other animals. That is what 
powerplants in the United States do. There is no disputing that. That 
is a fact.
  The legislation I have introduced will renew the wind power 
production tax credit, expand the credit to additional renewable 
technologies, including solar, open-loop biomass, poultry and animal 
waste, geothermal, and incremental hydropower facilities. There is so 
much that can be done.
  We are constructing, as we speak, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas at 
the Nevada Test Site, wind-generating capacity that in 3 years will 
produce from windmills enough electricity, 265 megawatts, to power a 
quarter of a million homes.
  These renewable energy sources can enhance America's energy supply on 
a scale of 1 to 3 years, considerably shorter than the time required 
for a fossil fuel powerplant.
  The proposed production tax credit for all these renewable energy 
sources would be made permanent. One of the problems we have with many 
of our tax credits is we do them for a short period of time. People 
don't know whether they are going to be in existence, and therefore 
they are unwilling to commit long term. This proposed production tax 
credit, if it is made permanent, will encourage use of renewable energy 
and signal America's long-term commitment to clean energy, to a healthy 
environment, and to our energy independence.
  My bill also allows for coproduction credits to encourage blending of 
renewable energy with traditional fuels and provides a credit for 
renewable facilities on Native American and Native Alaskan lands.
  Renewable energy is poised to make major contributions to our 
Nation's energy needs over the next decade.
  It is so important we recognize that within 3 years one wind-
generating farm in Nevada will produce 8 percent of all the electricity 
needs of the state. We can multiply that by 6 years to 20 percent. It 
is remarkable what can be done.
  Nevada has already developed 200 megawatts of geothermal power with a 
longer term potential of more than 2,500 megawatts, enough capacity to 
meet the State's energy needs. Growing renewable energy industries in 
the United States will also help provide growing employment 
opportunities in the United States and help U.S. renewable technologies 
compete in world markets.
  In States such as Nevada, expanded renewable energy production will 
provide jobs in rural areas--areas that have been largely left out of 
America's recent economic boom.
  The Department of Energy has estimated we could increase our 
generation of geothermal energy almost tenfold, supplying 10 percent of 
the energy needs of the West, and expand wind energy production to 
serve the electricity needs of 10 million homes.
  Renewable energy, as an alternative to traditional energy sources, is 
a commonsense way to ensure the American people that they can have a 
reliable source of power at an affordable price.
  The United States needs to move away from its dependence on fossil 
fuels that pollute the environment and undermine our national security 
interests and balance of trade.
  If there were ever a national security interest that we have, it 
would be doing something about the importation of fossil fuel. We have 
to do something to stop our dependence on these countries that 
manipulate the price of oil and other fuels. We have to do that; it is 
essential for our national security.
  We need to send the signal to utility companies all over America that 
we are committed in the long term to the growth of renewable energy. We 
must accept this commitment for the energy security of the United 
States, for the protection of our environment, and for the health of 
the American people and literally the world.
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