[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 77 (Thursday, May 20, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H3687-H3688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    OIL SPILL IN THE GULF OF MEXICO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Schiff) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, in the short time that I speak here today, 
thousands of gallons of oil will burst out of a broken well in the 
floor of the Gulf of Mexico. That oil will add to a catastrophic spill 
that is now spreading across a widening swath of ocean, coming ashore 
in Louisiana and devastating the economy of the gulf coast. Every 
attempt to cap the gusher has thus far failed, and it seems we can 
anticipate several more months of damage to our coastline, our 
fisheries, and our environment.
  As a Nation, we have been on an oil binge since the 1850s, when we 
started running out of our previous nonrenewable energy resource, whale 
oil. The wide-scale destruction that the whale hunts of the 19th 
century visited on our seas is now mirrored by the damage that offshore 
drilling is visiting upon the gulf.
  Two decades ago, Congress first recognized the danger of offshore 
drilling and passed a moratorium banning it outside of Alaska and the 
gulf.
  In California, many will remember the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill 
that spewed out almost 100,000 barrels of oil over 8 days. Lax safety 
standards and corner-cutting were the immediate culprits in that spill, 
but the gulf spill shows that, even with today's advanced technology, 
offshore drilling is fundamentally dangerous.

                              {time}  1715

  Thousands of gallons of oil is spilled each year during normal 
operations. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita sent over half a million 
gallons into the Gulf. And even without spills, piping and onshore 
operations destroy wetlands, disturb wildlife, and limit tourism. 
Californians are not willing to risk our tourism and fishing industries 
or our pristine environment with additional offshore drilling, and I'm 
happy that the Governor has stepped back from his plan for more 
drilling off the coast near Santa Barbara. Instead of more drilling and 
more spills, Californians are leading the way to a high-tech, clean 
energy future.
  A few blocks from my office in Pasadena, you'll find a business 
incubator that has turned clean-energy ideas into successful companies 
employing hundreds of Americans. One of these companies is now 
deploying modular concentrating solar power stations in the Mojave 
Desert, using mass-produced panels and modern manufacturing techniques 
to create some of the cheapest solar power in the world. Others are 
working on more efficient solar cells for rooftops and many other 
revolutionary technologies.
  This kind of technological innovation isn't limited to Southern 
California. Renewable energy is booming in Texas and Massachusetts, 
South Dakota and Georgia. And with the first mass-produced plug-in 
hybrid cars appearing this fall, clean energy will soon be fueling our 
vehicles as well. But our American-made high-tech boom is threatened by 
subsidies that keep fossil fuel prices artificially low, stifling 
competition and sustaining our dangerous dependence on foreign oil. 
Some of those subsidies are directed, like tax breaks for oil 
companies. The administration's budget proposes ending $45 billion 
worth of subsidies that tilt the playing field away from clean energy.
  Other subsidies are indirect, like limited liability for oil spills 
and air pollution. In the L.A. Basin, endemic smog caused by fossil 
fuels is a hidden tax on every resident, costing millions of dollars in 
additional health care and lost work hours. Last year, the National 
Academy of Sciences estimated that health care and other costs created 
by gasoline consumption come to about 30 cents a gallon, without 
considering global warming. That cost is absorbed by all of us in the 
form of hospital bills and asthma attacks. We must rebalance our energy 
subsidies so that clean energy can compete on an equal footing with 
oil, coal, and natural gas.
  We need to act quickly because China is now a leader in clean energy 
technology. In a few short years, the Chinese have developed a vibrant 
industrial base that produces more photovoltaic cells than any other 
nation. Meanwhile, China's demand continues to grow. It's the world 
leader in hydropower, second in wind power, stimulating a job-intensive 
domestic industry to meet the demand. To boost its green economy, China 
created a stimulus package worth hundreds of billions of dollars. And 
Chinese universities and research centers are quickly

[[Page H3688]]

gaining expertise in developing the green technologies that will power 
economic growth for upcoming decades.
  We can recapture our leadership role by supporting renewable energy 
companies here at home, realigning our energy incentives, and investing 
in research and development that will create new technologies. This 
week, we considered the America COMPETES Act, which outlines a doubling 
of Federal research over the next decade. Although this bill is opposed 
by those that favor the same energy sources now devastating the Gulf, 
I'm confident we will pass this critical measure, and with this 
investment we will ensure that new energy ideas are created here at 
home by American students and American entrepreneurs. But we must also 
ensure these ideas are turned into American companies, providing green-
tech business with the tools it needs to grow, train, and hire workers. 
We must establish renewable energy standards like the one in California 
that is stimulating investment up and down our State.
  Mr. Speaker. In the short time I speak here today, thousands of 
gallons of oil will burst out of a broken well in the floor of the Gulf 
of Mexico. that oil will add to a catastrophic spill that is now 
spreading across a widening swath of ocean, coming ashore in Louisiana, 
and devastating the economy of the Gulf Coast. Every attempt to cap the 
gusher has failed, and it seems we can anticipate several more months 
of damage to our coastline, our fisheries and our environment.
  As a nation, we have been on an oil binge since the 1850s, when we 
started running out of our previous nonrenewable energy resource--whale 
oil. The wide-scale destruction that the whale hunts of the 19th 
century visited on our seas is now mirrored by the damage that offshore 
drilling is visiting upon the Gulf.
  Two decades ago, Congress first recognized the danger of offshore 
drilling and passed a moratorium banning it outside Alaska and the 
Gulf. In California, many will remember the 1969 Santa Barbara oil 
spill that spewed out almost 100,000 barrels of oil over eight days. 
Lax safety standards and corner-cutting were the immediate culprits in 
that spill, but the Gulf spill shows us that even with today's advanced 
technology, offshore drilling is fundamentally dangerous. Thousands of 
gallons of oil is spilled each year during normal operations. 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita sent over half a million gallons into the 
Gulf. And even without spills, piping and onshore operations destroy 
wetlands, disturb wildlife and limit tourism.
  Californians are not willing to risk our tourism and fishing 
industries, or our pristine environment, with additional off-shore 
drilling, and I'm happy that the governor has stepped back from his 
plan for more drilling off the coast near Santa Barbara. Instead of 
more drilling, and more spills, Californians are leading the way to a 
high-tech, clean energy future.
  A few blocks from my office in Pasadena, you'll find a business 
incubator that has helped turn clean-energy ideas into successful 
companies employing hundreds of Americans. One of these companies is 
now deploying modular concentrating solar power stations in the Mojave 
Desert, using mass-produced panels and modern manufacturing techniques 
to create some of the cheapest solar power in the world. Others are 
working on more efficient solar cells for rooftops, and many other 
revolutionary technologies.
  This kind of technological innovation isn't limited to Southern 
California--renewable energy is booming in Texas and Massachusetts, 
South Dakota and Georgia. And with the first mass produced plug-in 
hybrid cars appearing this fall, clean energy will soon be fueling our 
vehicles as well.
  But our American-made high-tech boom is threatened by subsidies that 
keep fossil fuel prices artificially low, stifling competition and 
sustaining our dangerous dependence on foreign oil. Some of those 
subsidies are direct, like tax breaks for oil companies. The 
Administration's budget has proposed ending $45 billion worth of 
subsidies that tilt the playing field away from clean energy.
  Other subsidies are indirect, like limited liability for oil spills 
and air pollution. In the Los Angeles basin, endemic smog caused by 
fossil fuels is a hidden tax on every resident, costing millions of 
dollars in additional health care and lost work hours. Last year, the 
National Academy of Sciences estimated that health care and other costs 
created by gasoline consumption come to about 30 cents a gallon, 
without considering global warming. That cost is absorbed by all of us, 
in the form of hospital bills and asthma attacks. We must rebalance our 
energy subsidies so that clean energy can compete on an equal footing 
with oil, coal and natural gas.
  And we need to adapt quickly, because China is now the leader in 
clean-energy technology. In a few short years, the Chinese have 
developed a vibrant industrial base that produces more photovoltaic 
cells than any other nation. Meanwhile, China's demand continues to 
grow--it is the world leader in hydropower and second in wind power, 
stimulating a job-intensive domestic industry to meet the demand. To 
boost its green economy, China created a stimulus package worth 
hundreds of billions of dollars. And Chinese universities and research 
centers are quickly gaining expertise in developing the new green 
technologies that will power economic growth for upcoming decades.
  We can recapture our leadership role by supporting renewable energy 
companies here at home, realigning our energy incentives, and investing 
in the research and development that will create new technologies. This 
week, we considered the America COMPETES Act, which outlines a doubling 
of federal research over the next decade. Although this bill is opposed 
by those that favor the same energy sources now devastating the Gulf, I 
am confident we will pass this critical measure. And with this 
investment, we will ensure that new energy ideas are created here at 
home, by American students and American entrepreneurs.
  But we also must ensure that those ideas turn into American 
companies. We must provide green-tech business with the tools they need 
to grow, train and hire new workers. We must establish renewable energy 
standards, like the one in California that is stimulating investment up 
and down the state. We must strengthen our electrical grid, so that new 
sources of energy can be added without stressing the system. And we 
must update our electrical meters, so that homeowners can pay less if 
they shift some of their energy use to off-peak hours.
  Our new whale oil has lasted longer than the original, but it is easy 
to see now that it no longer makes sense, for our economy, for our 
national security, or for our environment. We face a challenge we can 
and will meet, but it is not one we can face if we put our heads in the 
sand and invest more money, lives and effort in the last century's 
energy source. Instead we must move forward to the new renewable energy 
future, that awaits us--the most industrious and inventive nation on 
Earth.

                          ____________________