[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 124 (Thursday, September 26, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S9415]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               DeWINE NEXT GENERATION LIGHTING INITIATIVE

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I am a cosponsor of the DeWine amendment 
to the Interior appropriations bill and am pleased to rise in support 
of it. The Next Generation Lighting Initiative is a research initiative 
designed to promote new, alternative, highly efficient technology for 
lighting to save energy and money, and reduce emissions. It would 
leapfrog over current technology. We use essentially the same light 
bulbs that Thomas Edison invented over 90 years ago. If successful, the 
Next Generation Lighting Initiative would make available new solid-
state lighting that would be ten times more efficient than today's 
incandescent light bulbs. The concept is similar to fuel cells that 
also would leapfrog to a technology of the future and reduce our 
dependence on the traditional internal combustion engine.
  I joined 22 other Senators in signing a letter to Appropriations 
Chairman Byrd and Ranking Member Burns to support $30 million in 
increased funding for this new lighting technology research initiative.
  The current Interior appropriations bill provides $4 million for this 
Initiative. The amendment being offered today would increase this 
funding to $10 million. While a sizable increase, this $10 million 
would still be only 33 percent of what we had initially sought.
  Specifically, the increased funding is needed to overcome pre-
competitive research hurdles associated with white light illumination 
from solid-state devices. It is important to fund new, clean energy 
technologies to provide sustainable economic development for the 
future.
  Lighting consumes about 20 percent of the energy generated in the 
United States. Over the next 20 years, this new next generation 
lighting technology could reduce global electricity usage for lighting 
by 50 percent and reduce total global electricity consumption by 10 
percent.
  Many groups and Members support increased funding for this important 
initiative. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues from Ohio and New 
Mexico for their work on this effort, and the chairman of the 
Appropriations Committee for his assistance and for his good work on 
this bill.

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