[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 2 (Friday, January 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E33-E34]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RENEWABLE ENERGY COULD TRANSFORM HAITI

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 5, 2007

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Madam Speaker, I would like to share with my 
colleagues the following op-ed that appeared last week in the Orlando 
Sentinel. This article discusses how a U.S.-backed biomass policy for 
Haiti could move our Caribbean neighbor away from the trajectory of 
state failure. As the article notes: ``Support for bioenergy as part of 
the solution to Haiti's economic dilemma--unemployment and lack of 
energy--could advance the development of Haiti, and reinforce the 
governance and security reforms that Haitians so desperately deserve.'' 
I hope all of my colleagues keep this article in mind as we enter the 
110th Congress.

               [From the Orlando Sentinel, Dec. 26, 2006]

                     Hope After H.O.P.E. for Haiti?

                     (By Johanna Mendelson-Forman)

       In its final hours, the 109th Congress gave new life to 
     Haiti's manufacturing sector, passing a trade bill that 
     included the H.O.P.E legislation that would create up to 
     7,000 new jobs by allowing Haitian assembly plants to import, 
     duty-free, textiles that would be made into clothing for the 
     U.S. market. While not a long-term solution to Haiti's ills, 
     the symbolism of this action went further to bolster the 
     morale of the Haitian private sector than anything in recent 
     years.
       Haiti suffers from many problems, not the least of which is 
     lack of jobs. Violence and kidnappings continue to undermine 
     security in Port au Prince. Even with the presence of a 
     robust U.N. Peace Mission, a country of 8

[[Page E34]]

     million people without jobs spells insecurity. The rigorous 
     effort by the international community to reinvent the Haitian 
     National Police is only part of the solution to a complex 
     country where law enforcement is franchised to many different 
     groups rather than controlled by the state. What vexes those 
     who want Haiti to succeed is just how to create a viable and 
     sustainable development program.
       While H.O.P.E may represent a small victory, other positive 
     signs may auger for a different approach. A donor's meeting 
     at the end of November in Madrid yielded almost $80 million 
     to support good governance. And the World Bank decision to 
     offer Haiti debt reduction also will help alleviate the drain 
     on Haiti's limited revenue. Successful municipal elections 
     held this month marked the first time since 1995 that 
     Haitians democratically elected leaders of local government. 
     And even a new effort to create a non-corrupt civil service 
     is under way.
       But the most promising signs that may make the difference 
     in the coming years will be centered on a push to help Haiti 
     become energy independent through the use of biomass energy.
       Renewable energy could transform Haiti. A World Bank study 
     reported that growing energy crops creates jobs in addition 
     to fuel. In a country totally dependent on foreign oil for 
     its energy needs, such independence could prove 
     revolutionary.
       This is not science fiction. Haiti is a perfect candidate 
     for growing oil-seed crops. In rural areas, where 70 percent 
     of the population remains engaged in subsistence agriculture, 
     developing an indigenous biofuels market could transform the 
     countryside and prevent the urban migration that continues to 
     swell the slums of Port au Prince.
       The environment could also be saved. And the proven anti-
     erosion qualities of seed crops like Jatropha and Castor bean 
     could also revitalize the soil in a country that is 96 
     percent deforested and where every rainfall puts thousands of 
     people at risk for natural disasters. And with crops such as 
     Jatropha, the bush is a natural fence since its leaves are 
     poisonous to animals.
       Unfortunately, helping Haiti to become energy self-
     sufficient is not a priority for donors despite the potential 
     it represents. It never came up at the Madrid meeting. And 
     U.S. development assistance has yet to see this type of 
     sustainable agriculture in Haiti as a means of long-term 
     poverty alleviation.
       If real hope is to be restored in Haiti, it must go beyond 
     the trade incentives embodied in the H.O.P.E legislation. 
     Urgent action is needed so that a U.S. biomass policy for the 
     Caribbean addresses not only the regional dilemma of foreign 
     oil dependency, but also moves Haiti away from the trajectory 
     of state failure, a threat that U.S. policymakers consider a 
     grave danger to U.S. interests.
       With Brazil as the lead nation in the U.N. peace operation 
     in Haiti, the technical means for bio-energy transformation 
     could get underway within the next year. The combined power 
     of U.S. economic support, coupled with Brazil's biomass 
     expertise, could certainly be applied to a place such as 
     Haiti. It could also demonstrate that ending addiction to 
     fossil fuels, a goal President Bush endorses, can also be 
     applied to one of the great development challenges in our 
     hemisphere.
       In a country just a two-hour flight from the U.S. mainland, 
     the risk of state failure looms large. Support for bioenergy 
     as part of the solution to Haiti's economic dilemma--
     unemployment and lack of energy--could advance the 
     development of Haiti, and reinforce the governance and 
     security reforms that Haitians so desperately deserve.

                          ____________________