[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 24, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H3820-H3825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE PRESIDENT'S CHALLENGE TO CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Dahlkemper). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 6, 2009, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. 
Blumenauer) is recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Thank you, Madam Speaker. I appreciate the 
opportunity to address the House this evening because tomorrow is going 
to be a very important day as we move forward with a markup in the 
Budget Committee to deal with priorities that are going to be facing 
this Congress.
  Before I begin my presentation, I would like to recognize the 
gentlewoman from Houston, Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee), if I could yield to 
her for a 3-minute presentation. I know she has some information that 
she would like to share with the House, and I would recognize her at 
this time.


                   Dr. Dorothy Height's 97th Birthday

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Allow me to thank the distinguished 
gentleman from Oregon and to emphasize the point that he just made of 
the importance of the budget markup and also of the very important 
issues that he comes to the floor to discuss this evening.
  There is another important event that occurred today, and that was 
the 97th birthday of Dr. Dorothy Height. I don't think I have to remind 
my colleagues of how important a person Dr. Height is today and how 
important she has been over the years. She is now the chairman and 
president of the National Council of Negro Women, but she was the only 
woman present at the 1963 March on Washington. She has previously been 
an icon, working with Presidents as far back as Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt. A civil rights leader she is, but an empowerment of women is 
her calling. She has led the National Council of Negro Women now for 
decades.
  Today, at that very building--really, at the only building owned by 
African Americans on Pennsylvania Avenue, women gathered from around 
the Nation to celebrate Dr. Height's birthday.
  Dr. Height was a pillar in the civil rights movement, standing 
alongside of A. Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King and numbers of 
others. She has also been someone to encourage women to participate in 
the governmental process, to be educated, to stand strong. She is a 
spokesperson for the unempowered, and of course, she is a mentor to so 
many of us. She is a friend of the Congressional Black Caucus, of the 
NAACP and of the National Urban League. When there is an issue of 
concern, you have the need to call Dr. Height. She is also a recipient 
of the Congressional Gold Medal along with many, many other awards.
  I am privileged today to be able to stand on the floor of the House 
to recognize an American icon, a patriot, a woman of valor and courage.
  Madam Speaker, it is again my great pleasure to salute Dr. Dorothy 
Height for a happy, happy birthday, now some 97 years old, and to thank 
my friend and colleague for allowing us to share this with all of our 
colleagues and to celebrate, again, a life that has been worth living 
and is still worth living--a champion of the people.
  Dr. Dorothy Height, happy birthday.
  I yield back to the gentleman.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Thank you. I appreciate the gentlelady making that 
presentation.
  Madam Speaker, the President of the United States has issued a 
challenge to this Congress and to the American people that is embodied 
in the budget that he outlined before us when he addressed this Chamber 
in his first joint session of Congress and has followed up with in his 
budget submission. He has given a challenge to us to deal with the 
great interrelated problems of the day.
  He has suggested that we move forward to deal with health care in 
terms of fundamental reform for all Americans, for dealing with energy 
instability and global warming, to deal with the incredible budget 
deficit that he has inherited to try and stabilize the fiscal situation 
of the United States, and to deal with investing in education in the 
future.
  What I would like to do this evening is address the element of the 
budget that speaks to climate change, global warming, energy 
independence, and investing in our energy future.
  It has been interesting listening to our Republican friends who have 
been told by Mr. Boehner, the Republican leader, that they are not to 
be legislators, that they are to be communicators, evidently deciding 
that dealing with the messy problems of government with energy, with 
the budget, with the nuts and bolts that the American people sent us 
here to address might be a little too risky. So, instead, they're 
talking about communicating some of their concerns.
  We have heard the mantra about the President's budget--taxing too 
much, spending too much and borrowing too much. We have not heard 
constructive alternatives, and they certainly have not acknowledged 
that the policies of the Republican majority and the Republican 
President, when they were in charge for the last 8 years with the Bush 
administration and in charge for a dozen years in the House of 
Representatives, actually created these problems.
  Spend too much? These are people who understand spending. They 
produced record budget increases, increasing spending faster than Bill 
Clinton, faster even than one of the favorite whipping boys they have--
the Great Society of Lyndon Johnson.
  Borrow too much? Well, these are people who, when President Bush took 
office, were faced with the daunting prospect of a $5 trillion budget 
surplus. That was the official estimate. Remember, there were smart 
people concerned with what would happen if we paid off the national 
debt. What would be the instruments for insurance and pensions and 
other commercial transactions? Well, they solved that problem by 
turning a $5 trillion surplus, with a pattern of reckless spending and 
ill-considered tax cuts, to a record deficit. It was a $5 trillion 
surplus, and they added $5 trillion to the national debt. They have 
given President Obama a record $1.8 trillion deficit that he is 
struggling with now.
  They know about spending too much. They know about borrowing too much 
because much of this was money borrowed from the Chinese, the Japanese 
and the Europeans. Under their watch, the current accounts and the 
balance of all of the goods and services and trade in and out of the 
United States increased from 3.6 percent to over 5 percent, a 40 
percent increase--rather sobering--and it is contributing to the 
instability that we face.
  Well, these people are, hopefully, going to stop communicating long 
enough tomorrow to maybe roll up their sleeves and help us deal with 
very specific opportunities as part of the

[[Page H3821]]

President's challenge dealing with climate change, carbon pollution and 
the opportunity for energy independence.

                              {time}  2030

  This is critical for the same reasons that the Republican talking 
points are circulated because the situation today--with our carbon 
pollution, energy instability, climate change--is a tax on the future.
  Last year, we shipped some $700 billion overseas to pay for imported 
oil, a sum that was taken away from our economy, much of it borrowed 
money. It is, in the future, it is a recipe for disaster as we move 
forward. They know that as we are in a situation today where we're 
talking about disasters that are consequences of this climate 
instability--we have seen a dramatic increase in weather-related events 
in terms of drought just in terms of natural disaster. We saw last year 
$200 billion of costs associated with natural disasters, much of which 
is related to this climate instability, unpredictable weather events, 
and 220,000 lives were lost. And, going forward, we know we are facing 
greater and greater challenges.
  The budget that has been advanced by the President that we will be 
discussing has the opportunity for us to carve out some room for some 
area that deals with--whether it's cap-and-trade, a carbon tax--some 
mechanism so that it is no longer free for people to pollute the 
atmosphere with carbon.
  We know that it is not free in terms of environmental consequence. We 
know that it is not free in terms of weather instability, in terms of 
drought, the permafrost in Alaska that is no longer perma, roads that 
are buckling, seaside villages that are washed away, and we watch as 
sea levels continue to increase in the United States placing millions 
of Americans at risk who live immediately adjacent to our coastlines 
and people around the world who are going to be susceptible to storm 
surges. We're looking at a situation now where these challenges are 
going to bear directly on the quality of life of Americans and our 
economic stability.
  It is clear that over the last 20 years, these concentrations of 
gasses that trap heat in the atmosphere, raising the temperature of the 
planet, the case now is largely settled. The consensus of the 
environmental community is that we have--global warming is a reality 
and we have consequences that we must deal with.
  It is important that we have an opportunity in this Congress to 
exercise our responsibility to do something about the costs and 
consequences of climate change. We are feeling them today, and they are 
going to be even more devastating on people in the future.
  Lake Mead is less than half the level that it has been in recent 
years, putting tremendous stress on water supplies in the southwest. 
The City of Las Vegas, for instance, is looking at rather elaborate and 
expensive alternatives to try and maintain their lifestyle in the 
middle of the desert.
  We're watching increased forest fires year after year. These costs 
are increasing exponentially placing large areas, not just in the 
southwest, but the flame zone is stretching across the country.
  There is increased damage from forest pests that are moving into new 
habitat as a result of the climate change.
  And then there are the costs that we bear to national security. As we 
look at conflicts that relate to water and drought in sub-Saharan 
Africa, in the Middle East, these bear a cost burden on the United 
States. We very likely have to deal with those conflicts in the future.
  There is also a very critical cost that is occurring. As the ocean 
absorbs increasing amounts of carbon dioxide, the ocean acidifies. 
We're bleaching the coral reefs--the coral reefs that have been likened 
to the rain forests of the ocean; that reduces the ability of plankton 
to form calcium carbonate, reduces the ability of the ocean to absorb 
carbon and threatens the food chain on which not just aquatic life, but 
increasingly large numbers of people around the world rely.
  There are significant health consequences as we look at the impact of 
severe heat waves. We watched thousands of people die in the Midwest, 
in Europe, particularly in France, with heat waves of just a few years 
ago. We are quite certain, and the research is clear, the models 
predict, and are, in fact, proving to be the case that as these 
intensify in magnitude and duration, we're going to have further 
increases in mortality and morbidity especially amongst the young, the 
frail, the elderly and the poor.
  We're watching impacts on air quality, a tax on Americans now, 
dealing with regional ozone pollution, respiratory infection, 
aggravation of asthma and premature death.
  These extreme weather events are having, especially along the Gulf 
and Atlantic coasts, severe events that have intensity of precipitation 
that is increasing the risk of flooding, greater run-off and erosion, 
and the potential for adverse water quality.
  The people who are--increasing numbers of whom are who are subjected 
to these problems of disease and injury to floods, storms, droughts, 
and fires, this is a real cost today and is one that is going to 
increase in the future.
  Madam Speaker, there are opportunities for us to be able to make a 
difference, restructuring our economy, dealing with climate change, 
reducing carbon pollution, in ways that will make a fundamental 
difference in terms of how America works. At a time when our economy is 
in free fall, what better opportunity for us to be able to create 
economic opportunities at home, new green jobs that can't be exported, 
building a smart grid, weatherizing homes, new jobs from exporting 
green technology that we create, and reducing the costs for American 
families through energy efficiency. Remember, it is not the rate but 
the bill at the end of the day.
  We have an opportunity to increase economic competitiveness with a 
more efficient economy, and energy independence means we can stop 
sending our money overseas to people who don't like us.
  Now, I see that I have been joined by my colleague from New York. Mr. 
Tonko has been a leader, both in terms of the private sector position, 
and for years in the New York Assembly before he joined us in Congress. 
He chaired relevant legislative committees dealing with these issues.
  And we're honored to have him join us this evening, and I would like 
to recognize him for his observations about the opportunity as we move 
forward with a new budget, dealing with opportunities to reduce carbon 
pollution and usher in a new economic era.
  Mr. TONKO. Thank you, Congressman Blumenauer. And it is with great 
interest that I join you because I listened to your commentary about 
the important factors associated with this transformation in our 
economy.
  I think it is so important for us to focus on the fact that as we 
grow American power, as we grow energy sources that are American 
produced, we are creating American jobs for the benefit of American 
working families.
  So this is a totally American agenda where we can grow that energy 
security and advance great opportunities in the workplace as we enhance 
our environment and provide for sounder energy policy.
  You know, I am reminded that over the last 50 years, the major 
growth, over \1/2\ of the growth of our Nation's GDP, is related to 
developing and emerging technologies that were then adopted into all 
sorts of institutional outcomes.

  That investment, that growth in our GDP, explained by emerging 
technologies only required a 3 percent, on average, investment in R&D 
3 percent of our GDP was invested in R&D. So when we think of that 
research and development opportunity at that mere 3-percent level, and 
to recognize that that meant well over \1/2\ of our growth in the 
Nation's GDP, that is a powerful statement. Imagine what happens when 
we are willing to invest a greater amount into R&D.
  I am tremendously encouraged by the Obama administration because of 
its embracing the important role that science can play, treating 
science and technology as vibrant components in our comeback as an 
economy.
  We also know that as we look at history, we can understand fully that 
it was technology and reform and transformation and innovation that 
produced the success stories here in this country. As we moved from an 
internal

[[Page H3822]]

combustion engine to the development of electricity, we created an 
unprecedented amount of jobs. As we developed the automobile, it 
created millions of manufacturing jobs. And certainly millions more 
were employed by building those power plants and dams and our Nation's 
electric grid.
  So just as we moved into that era of job creation and job enhancement 
and technology advancements, think of the green-power revolution that 
can really transform how we address our economy. There can be no strong 
comeback without our investment in energy. And I think that's what this 
is about: American jobs producing American power for America's 
families.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Well, I appreciate your sketching that vision of the 
future with a look towards the past. And if there was ever a time that 
the American economy needs a little rebalancing, it is now. We're 
looking at a financial services sector that is going to be shrinking. I 
think we've seen the consequence where there is a certain amount of 
this economic growth, which was a result of developing exotic financial 
products, having desk jockeys figure out new ways to charge fees, and 
subprime loans, what happened with predatory loan lending, and in some 
cases, outrageous credit card practices.
  Well, this is not arguably adding to the store of national wealth. 
And what you described was several instances in our history where we 
were developing and implementing new technology. We were adding value 
to the economy, real value to the American productivity. The family had 
more tangible activities. And people were involved with jobs that 
created value.
  Well, we have seen study after study that indicates precisely what 
you have described is going to occur if we are able to make that 
transition.
  The State of California is already one of the most energy efficient 
in the Nation. In fact, if the entire United States was as efficient on 
a per capita basis as California was just a few years ago, energy 
consumption in the United States would be reduced 32 percent.
  Well, one wonders, well, then California may not have the economic 
upside of dealing with a cost-effective energy reduction. Well, that 
would be wrong. California has analyzed the economic impact of their 
plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels in the course of 
about the next decade.

                              {time}  2045

  That's a 30 percent reduction from business as usual emission levels 
projected for 2020, about 15 percent below today's level, and they 
found that the economic benefits would increase economic production 
overall for their State $33 billion. It would increase their gross 
State product $7 billion. It would increase personal income--and this 
is critical in terms of the savings to individuals and increased 
earnings from green jobs--$16 billion. On a per capita basis, 
Californians would be ahead $200 each per year, and there would be more 
than 100,000 new jobs. Oh, and by the way, they calculate billions of 
dollars--between $4 and $5 billion--a year savings in health costs.
  So I think what you have described, we can see in a State like 
California where there's been extensive study, that there's an 
opportunity to really realize that vision.
  Mr. TONKO. Well, having come from NYSERDA--you mentioned my role in 
the New York State Assembly as energy chair for 15 years, but then I 
moved over to NYSERDA, the New York State Energy Research and 
Development Authority, where I served as president and CEO. I saw 
firsthand that research and development equaled economic recovery. It 
provided many, many opportunities to advance science and technology and 
create jobs from the trades on over to the inventor and innovator, the 
engineering groups that would design specific new products and then 
deploy them where they were success stories into the commercial sector.
  I think that when we talk about these opportunities we're reminded of 
a report that came out in 2005 from National Academies and it was 
entitled, Rising Above the Gathering Storm. And let me just read the 
three basic categories that they thought were of the most meaningful 
path that America should follow: investment in basic research; 
innovation as the path to reducing our dependence on foreign oil; and 
improving science, technology, engineering, and math education.
  Now, right there in a nutshell is a major impetus to a new era of job 
creation. We can bring about a much more vibrant outcome for the 
manufacturing sector simply by retrofitting new energy innovation to 
that workplace, providing for, if not cheaper, smarter outcomes, which 
then wins at the global marketplace.
  I think that our manufacturing sector can grow great potential with 
an energy revolution, not only in the direct impact of jobs created in 
that arena, but the ripple effect that then circulates into and impacts 
into many of our sectors of the economy.
  I looked at a project when I was still in the State Assembly to work 
with our dairy farms in upstate New York. They were impacted by prices 
that simply were very marginal. They did not give them much of a 
profit, if one at all, and we needed to, in New York State, look at 
ways to cut the costs of milk production for our dairy farmers.
  I thought, well, they're dealing with a perishable product, they have 
energy costs that are sometimes difficult to manage because they can't 
deal with peak and off peak necessarily, with Mother Nature taking hold 
in their operations. And so we worked on energy retrofits with Cornell 
University, with NYSERDA, with the local utility, and with the farming 
community, with farm representatives, the farm bureau.
  We came up with programs in a demonstration project that saved 
somewhere between 30 and 40, if not greater, percent in demand just in 
that setting of our dairy farm operation. We then moved to some 70 
farms from the success of that demonstration, and all were very pleased 
with the outcome.
  And without even adjusting the rate, as you had made mention just 
earlier, they paid much less for their bill because the demand was 
reduced significantly, and they're dealing again with a perishable 
product that has a heating and cooling process, that is a costly one in 
terms of energy consumption.
  So here we created a much stronger outcome, and believe it or not, 
with that more comfortable setting, that because of some of the fan 
work that had been done to cool the barn and, again, regulate the 
energy consumption, you had a more comfortable setting for the herd, 
and production per cow was greater.
  So all around it was a win-win-win situation, and we were utilizing a 
state-of-the-art, shelf-ready technology. Think of the many other 
applications that are out there looming that we can then advance 
through resources that come when we put together a system that checks 
the pollution impact on our environment and produces through that, 
resources that grow jobs, grow opportunities, grow discovery, grow 
innovation, grow demand reduction, and then move forward to creating 
this all-American agenda that impacts, finally, the American family in 
very positive measure.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. That's a very impressive story, starting with 
reducing environmental pressures to right through the food chain, 
production chain, reducing costs, increasing productivity. And I would 
assume that it is also safe to say that there is a hidden advantage in 
the long term because application of strategies like this reduce long-
term demand.
  Nothing is more costly for individual consumers than having to go and 
make massive capital investment for future production capacity. The 
cheapest kilowatt is one that we don't have to generate, and this would 
be an example where you were saving future generations as well.
  Mr. TONKO. And I hear you, Congressman Blumenauer. I think that in 
this country, beyond any other, with consumption per person, energy 
demand per person so high above the average, there is a greater bit of 
opportunity here than in any other world Nation that is a manufacturing 
leader in the world.
  So we have with this gluttonous dependency on petroleum-based, fossil 
fuel-based economy of ours to move forward aggressively, and just a 
simple 1 or 2 or 5 percent reduction in demand is monumental coast to 
coast. And so this is about job creation in a way that grows 
significant jobs from all sectors. From the blue collar and white 
collar jobs of today, all can be transformed to some degree to a green 
collar work environment.

[[Page H3823]]

  Just yesterday in Albany, New York, at the State Education 
Department, a subcommittee from the Science and Technology Committee of 
this House, headed by Chairman Hinojosa, went to Albany to conduct a 
hearing on improvements in the Workforce Investment Act. The 
reauthorization is before us as we speak. We're looking at how we can 
better improve that act and also bring about today's thinking on green 
collar opportunities, green collar opportunities in the energy world.
  And part of the witness table included a representative from GE's 
wind division. They talked about the Federal Department of Energy's 
forecast of some 500,000 jobs in that industry that will require those 
who are site managers, site operational people, to those who are wind 
technicians to be able to learn the trades, learn the maintenance and 
retrofitting and installation opportunities and skills to bring about 
this revolution of sorts. There will be those, too, that are required 
to come up with the next generation of equipment that is, you know, 
today in the labs percolating in a way that is just, again, a 
revolution waiting to happen.
  This is smart thinking. This is smart policy. These are progressive 
measures that then take this country into that world leading status.
  You know, as a kid I remember the space race. I remember the Sputnik 
situation. We were competitive. We were going to beat Russia to the 
punch. We were going to make certain that we landed a person on the 
Moon. That came with a vision that was followed up with a sense of 
policy, that drove us with resource commitment. We have that same 
opportunity today, a golden opportunity made green in a way that will 
spark this innovation economy, that will transform a lot of the work 
opportunities out there and provide the bottom line benefits to 
American working families.
  I think the middle class Americans who have just realized the largest 
investment in a tax cut in the Nation's history through the recent 
recovery act will now stand yet another chapter of gain here with this 
sort of thinking.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. I love the phraseology, ``a golden opportunity turned 
green.'' I think that is well-said, and your analogy to the space race 
that we had with the former Soviet Union I think is a perfect analogy. 
It sparked a birth of technology. It encouraged us to invest in 
education in grade school, high school and college and post-secondary. 
It was a spurt of innovation that led to a whole host of new products 
and increased productivity.
  And you rightly point out that we are currently the largest consumer 
of energy in the world on a per capita basis. Sadly, we waste more 
energy than any other country on the face of the planet. It doesn't 
have to be that way, and in your State and mine, there are people hard 
at work developing new technologies and techniques to be able to 
essentially mine these energy sinks that we have with old residential 
and industrial buildings, wasteful practices, to be able to harvest the 
energy, to be able to recycle it, to lower bills and be able to have 
longer term productivity. This new energy opportunity seems to me to be 
unparalleled.
  I want to just make one additional observation about the fact that 
change is coming. Now, there are some that say, well, maybe we don't 
want it in this budget, maybe we are not ready for cap-and-trade or a 
carbon tax or facing up, as virtually every other developed country has 
done, and indeed over 900 cities across the country decided they 
weren't going to wait for the Bush administration. They were going to 
be Kyoto compliant. They were moving ahead with their own plans, 
including mine in Portland, Oregon, where we reduced greenhouse gas 
emissions for four consecutive years and actually are almost Kyoto 
compliant now.
  Well, the Bush administration not only turned its back on its global 
responsibilities by not only not ratifying Kyoto and working with it, 
but not offering an alternative, just basically saying we'll go our own 
way, we'll ignore it. They ignored the problem in this country. The EPA 
administrator, Johnson, was in the most effective witness protection 
program in history. I think he appeared before one congressional 
committee. I only saw him once during his tenure, but they refused, EPA 
under President Bush and Administrator Johnson, refused to accept their 
responsibility under the Clean Air Act. You know, the Massachusetts 
Supreme Court case said don't delay further on dealing with tailpipe 
emissions, don't deny a decision to the State of California to try and 
do something about it.
  Well, the Obama administration understands that nonaction is not an 
option and that they are following the law finally and dealing with the 
potential of regulating carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act.
  Well, I think if we took a census of people in the business 
community, they would rather that Congress stepped up with a regulatory 
process, whether it's cap-and-trade or carbon tax or some variation, so 
that they had certainty and that we have a chance to move forward 
rather than just doing it in a regulatory process administratively.
  But one way or another, the head-in-the-sand approach of the prior 
administration and former congressional leadership that was going to 
deny the reality of global warming and our responsibility is a thing of 
the past.

                              {time}  2100

  The question is: How are we going to do it and how soon will we move 
forward so that we can reap the benefits and avoid the consequences?
  Mr. TONKO. Absolutely. I think the strategy is one that will be 
produced in very thoughtful exchange here in the House and in the 
Senate and working with the administration.
  I think the resources you talk about, the garnering of resources, 
these can be applied in so many measures. I saw from my days in the 
assembly as Energy Chair, to my time as NYSERDA president, a huge sea 
change in thinking from even the business community, where they came to 
NYSERDA looking for opportunities for energy efficiency installments 
into their operation. They were hard hit by some of these economic 
pressures.
  When we think of it, it was an energy crisis that kind of drove this 
economic crisis. When gas prices were rising severely, when petroleum 
prices were rising severely, when the cost of running our factories and 
the cost of running our workplaces and the cost of maintaining our 
homes kept rising because of those fuel costs, then people came into an 
energy crunch. That drove this economic recession that has been so long 
and deep and now inherited by this administration as we now struggle 
with the Recovery Act to come forward with a solution.
  Doing nothing would have meant what--500,000 to 600,000 job losses 
per month? So it took action--just like this will take action. As the 
President has said, energy reform is required for our economic 
recovery. Health care reform is required for our economic recovery.
  So this opportunity for energy reform, where we retrofit our 
factories and provide for cheaper outcomes and more efficient 
government, in partnership with our private sector, making certain that 
we embrace our intellectual capacity, that is what this is all about.
  I saw what we could do just in housing stock alone with efficiency 
measures that range from weatherization to home audits that produce all 
sorts of insulation requirements and those kinds of investments that, 
again, produce jobs in our neighborhoods.
  I saw what NYSERDA was doing through Hudson Valley Community College, 
one of the large community colleges in the capital region of New York 
State. They partnered with NYSERDA. We set goals. We put programs 
together. We made certain resources were there and then went forward 
with training people that might be construction management majors at 
Hudson Valley Community College and learning state-of-the-art PV and 
solar application for rooftops.
  Training the workforce of the future, taking people through various 
work incentive programs, through our PIC--our Private Industry Council, 
and making certain they were connected to the community college 
opportunity, training them at Hudson Valley as educators, then reaching 
out to other community colleges and creating that network of trainer 
doing the work with the future trainer. And all of them

[[Page H3824]]

then working with unemployed, underemployed, people transition that 
needed new skills developed that were highly skilled in the workforce, 
addressing our curricula in pre-K-12, addressing the opportunities for 
matriculation at our colleges and certification programs. All of this 
is very important to building the human infrastructure that then goes 
out there and becomes that green energy team in all of our 
neighborhoods, all of our States across the Nation, making certain that 
we spark that kind of job creation and dedication to a cause that has 
us reducing our demand, that then has us producing something other than 
a fossil-based economy, and generating situations of power and energy 
needs that do not pollute and add to our global warming situation and 
to our carbon footprint. All of that is a spectacular outcome that is 
achievable with the proper focus, laser-sharp focus, commitment to 
resources, and advancement in progressive policy.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Congressman Tonko, we are fortunate to have your 15 
years of committee leadership and your work at NYSERDA to be able to 
bring to bear in a practical sense how we implement that vision. I 
could not agree with you more. Frankly, I am excited that the American 
public understands this.
  Now there are those that try and distort what public opinion is, what 
the public will or will not do. You have given concrete examples in 
your State of New York of how these pieces fit together. We find that 
more than 75 percent of the Americans in Gallup's annual environmental 
poll for this year say they are in favor of increased government 
financial support and incentives to produce energy from alternative 
sources, while just 8 percent say that government should do less. 
Thirteen percent said the government has it right exactly.
  The same survey showed that Americans largely endorse government 
efforts to increase alternative energy production through the use of 
financial support or incentives directly in line with the stated 
objectives of this administration.
  Now these are majorities of Democrats, 86 percent; Independents, 79 
percent; even Republicans, 63 percent, all support these renewable 
energy investments like you describe.
  I was also struck by a second poll of over 2,000 Americans conducted 
by the Yale Project on Climate Change and the George Mason University 
Center for Climate Change Communication where they found that the 
American public strongly supported a wide variety of climate change and 
energy policies.
  Ninety-two percent supported more funding for research on renewable 
energy sources such as solar and wind; 85 percent supported tax rebates 
for people buying energy-efficient vehicles or solar panels; 80 percent 
said the government should regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant; and 
69 percent said the United States should sign an international treaty 
that requires the United States to cut its emissions of carbon dioxide 
90 percent by 2050, not the 80 percent that we deal with.
  And we find in the same survey a large majority of Americans also 
supported policies that directly stated, told the Americans that there 
would be an economic cost. Seventy-nine percent supported a 45-mile-
per-gallon efficiency standard for cars, trucks, and SUVs, even if it 
meant that a new vehicle would cost $1,000 more to buy. Seventy-two 
percent supported a requirement that electric utilities produce at 
least 20 percent of their energy from wind, solar, or renewable 
sources, even if it cost the household $100 a year or more.
  Seventy-two percent supported government subsidies to replace old 
water heaters, air conditioners, light bulbs, and insulation, even if 
it cost the average household $5 a month in higher taxes. And 63 
percent supported a special fund to make buildings more energy 
efficient and teach Americans how to reduce their energy use, even if 
that added an extra $2.50 a month to their electric bills. Finally, 67 
percent said the United States should reduce its emissions of 
greenhouse gasses, regardless of what other countries do.
  It seems to me this is pretty compelling evidence that the American 
public is starting to get it.
  Mr. TONKO. Not only that, Congressman Blumenauer, I think with that 
intensity that you just shared with us, it tells me that that should 
push elected representatives here in the House and Senate to respond to 
their constituents in a way that is thoughtful and progressive because 
that is the message I believe is imparted by such polling results.

  People know that we have precious little time to correct some of 
this. But they also know that there's a great outcome. I believe the 
youngest generations in today's society are going to compel us to think 
outside the barrel. I think they are going to push us and say it's time 
to think outside the barrel and do things appropriately.
  I will give you an example. Again, at NYSERDA we got involved in a 
school project across the State at several schools. We would install 
solar systems at the school to, A, ease the burden on the property 
taxpayer; B, invest in the children's education so they could see 
firsthand what was happening and to inspire them; C, to inform the 
educator to take the teaching staff and allow them to incorporate into 
their classroom activities the discussion of renewables, of solar, of 
the opportunities to become independent--energy independent.
  What a remarkably successful program. We need just to grow that. But, 
again, it's resources. States sometimes are confined or restricted. If 
we have a strong partnership with Federal Government, then we can do 
that multilayering of government to respond in a way that advances this 
stretched thinking to allow us again to measure in green terms what the 
future can be and to see that so many of these opportunities are on 
that shelf, ready to be applied, tells us that there's a great bit of 
opportunity out there looming--looming large.
  And so I think that polling statistics and the data that are 
exchanged here tell us that there's a new day coming. As we invest in 
this coming budget, I believe you're going to see a commitment to a new 
world where we are that energy-secure Nation. And as we grow our energy 
security, I'm firmly convinced we grow our national security. Because 
our involvement, our dependency on the Middle East, for instance, for 
our supply of oil and petroleum finds us depending on some of the most 
troubled spots in the world that have unstable governments, that then 
control our destiny for what is a basic need out there--the energy to 
light and heat our homes, to power our manufacturing centers, and our 
workplaces.
  When we are dependent in such huge measure on that sort of 
importation, it only causes great concern and challenges us to think in 
these bolder terms. And so I think we need to take that energy palette 
and paint it in bolder shades of green.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. I love your verbiage, including ``thinking outside 
the barrel.'' I think that is a very powerful concept. I think you 
sketch the larger challenge that we face. We are addressing with the 
President and with our leadership in Congress a threat to our planet, 
as you say--national security, shipping lots of money to people who 
don't like us very much, financing both sides of the war on terror; 
and, dealing with fundamental restructuring of our economy.
  There aren't very many times when people in Congress--there have only 
been less than 12,000 men and women who have ever served in this body 
for the entire history of the United States. There are few times when 
there are fundamental existential challenges to our society, to our way 
of life. We are in one of those moments right now with the economy, 
with our national security, and with the threat to the planet.
  As you have described, there is an opportunity now for the United 
States Congress to lead. In a sense, part of it, and I know from a 
little experience with some of the civic leadership in the State of New 
York--and it's certainly true in my home State of Oregon--that there is 
leadership in the private sector, in churches, in synagogues, college 
campuses, in businesses large and small. People who are young, who are 
of a real activist environmental bent, but also people of the greatest 
generation, people who grew up in the Depression and World War II, who 
understand about conservation, understand about recycling, understand 
about working together to meet challenges. We have a

[[Page H3825]]

wide range of Americans that are already out there.
  It will be interesting, in my judgment, to see if Congress is able to 
exercise the courage, the vision, and the leadership to catch up with 
our constituents.
  Mr. TONKO. Let me tell you, part of my congressional district 
includes Schenectady, New York, dubbed ``the city that lights and hauls 
the world.'' They did locomotive manufacturing. We are a center of 
innovation, with names like Edison and Steinmetz.
  So that Greatest Generation was involved in the manufacturing end of 
that thought process, that seed that was planted, that invention that 
was sparked in Schenectady, and they were there manufacturing so that 
they could light and haul the world.
  So along that path of my district where the Erie Canal gave birth to 
an industrial revolution, where we inspired the westward movement, 
where this necklace of communities called mill towns emerged because of 
all of the centers of invention and products that were manufactured, 
this great generation knows what happens when you are at the front of 
the line where you are the leader in the world. And this is our chance 
to assume the leadership mantel of a new century of thinking. Just as 
we did over a century ago to create some of these ways to address 
energy needs, we are now at a new juncture that can, again, produce 
that passage that allows us to impact the entire world with the 
developments that we can inspire simply by committing resources, 
whoever it is as a nation, whatever nation assumes that leadership 
status--and someone will--they're going to control, I think, that 
global setting. And it should be the U.S.
  We as a country not only have the challenges placed before us in 
terms of a tough economy that now we are working to bring back, a tough 
job inherited by this President, but he is doing a very thoughtful, 
remarkable job with keen focus, and includes energy transformation as 
part of that comeback.

                              {time}  2115

  Not only are we challenged, but we have that capacity, the 
intellectual capacity and the history of having been pioneers, people 
who have taken that leap of faith and who have seen science and all 
sorts of experimental procedures as a good thing.
  This administration, this House's leadership through Speaker Pelosi 
and the many chairs understand that we have that capacity, and they are 
leading us in the right direction. I am convinced.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Congressman Tonko, well said. I deeply appreciate you 
joining me this evening.
  We are going to have an opportunity to deal with these issues 
tomorrow with the budget markup and this next week. And as we have 
committees moving forward, as you say, moving in these various 
directions, I look forward to working with you and deeply appreciate 
your reasoned voice and your experience. It is going to make our 
legislation better.
  Mr. TONKO. Well, I know you stand for progressive policies in Oregon, 
and you personify that very well. So it is a pleasure to work with you 
in this House, and we are going to go forward and have a very 
innovative budget.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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