[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 67 (Monday, May 4, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H5083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              SAFE ENERGY

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, since the Nation has no official 
energy policy, we continue to discuss what shall we do about energy for 
the future.
  The cynics and the critics don't want us to use fossil fuels such as 
clean coal or oil. They don't want us drilling for even natural gas.
  We can never build enough of those gangly windmill eyesores to make 
much of a difference. Solar energy technology is still lagging behind 
in development, and we are learning that the corn-based ethanol that 
was to save us all is too much of a pollutant and a poor use of our own 
land.
  So what are we to do? Are we going to freeze in the dark or bake in 
the global heat, depending on whether one believes global warming is 
fact or fiction?
  Today I visited the North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia. I was 
impressed with their pride for safety, security and competence. This 
plant, along with 63 others, safely produces 20 percent of our Nation's 
electricity. But France gets 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear 
power.
  So we should defy the cynics and the critics and produce energy from 
all safe sources, including actively pursuing more clean nuclear power, 
or we will eventually be left behind in the darkness of the winter 
night.
  And that's just the way it is.

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