[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.
____________________