[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 125 (Tuesday, August 4, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6248-S6249]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            CLEAN POWER PLAN

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, yesterday President Obama took a very 
important step in addressing climate change and promoting clean energy. 
His Clean Power Plan is the strongest action ever taken by our 
government to fight climate change. The Clean Power Plan would reduce 
the dangerous amounts of carbon pollution being pumped into the 
atmosphere. By reducing pollution, the Clean Power Plan would yield 
significant public health benefits for our entire Nation.
  Carbon pollution has many devastating effects on our environment, as 
well as the health and well-being of all of us. Sadly, pollution from 
burning fossil fuels disproportionately affects low-income people and 
families of color. Exposure to air pollution can aggravate preexisting 
health problems, especially respiratory maladies such as asthma.
  For millions of Americans, carbon pollution affects their ability to 
breathe and exacerbates the problems they have with asthma. Consider 
these facts. Minority and lower income Americans are far more likely to 
live near coal-fired powerplants. Statistically, that is terribly 
accurate. African Americans are three times more likely to be 
hospitalized from asthma. African-American children have an 80-percent 
higher rate of asthma and are roughly three times more likely to die 
from asthma than their White peers. Roughly half of Latinos live in 
areas that frequently violate clean air rules, and Hispanic children 
are 40 percent more likely to die from asthma than non-Hispanic Whites.
  In Nevada, just a short distance out of Las Vegas, about 35 miles, 
there is an Indian reservation. Approximately 30 years ago, NV Energy--
Nevada Power--built this huge coal-fired generator there. Over the more 
than three decades it has been in existence, tens of millions of tons 
of coal have been burnt in that powerplant. It is a football field away 
from the reservation. Those Native Americans have been really sick as a 
result of that. Now there has been a court settlement that gives them a 
little bit of economic strength as a result of this, and, to its 
credit, NV Energy's new ownership has decided it is going to phase out 
that plant very quickly. That is good for the health of those Native 
Americans.
  Today the plant is being decommissioned and solar is being built on 
the tribe's reservation. It is wonderful to see that. They have a lot 
of jobs, and it is giving some economic viability, in addition to the 
court settlement I just talked about.
  President Obama put it best yesterday: ``If you care about low-
income, minority communities, try protecting the air they breathe.'' 
That is exactly what the President's plan will do. It will clean the 
air we breathe, help curb health care costs, and improve the quality of 
life for all Americans. But that is not all.
  As the plan is implemented, we will see even more investment in clean 
and renewable energy, which is not only good for the planet and our 
health, but it is good for the economy. The Clean Power Plan will boost 
renewable energy by 30 percent over the next 15 years, cutting 
pollution but, of course, creating tens of thousands of jobs for all 
Americans. President Obama's plan encourages programs and incentives to 
make American homes more efficient and lower consumers' utility bills.
  Under the Clean Energy Incentive Program, a jump start in new jobs is 
expected from construction and installation of renewable energy and 
efficiency upgrades. This will incentivize new clean energy development 
and job creation before the new carbon standards even go into effect.
  It has been disappointing, but not surprising, to see Republicans' 
knee-jerk opposition to addressing climate change. It is all the more 
frustrating because they have no plan of their own, except to let the 
smoke keep billowing. Instead, Republicans are clamoring to show 
special interests such as the oil baron Koch brothers how far they are 
willing to go to kill commonsense protections for our air and public 
health because it might hurt the bottom line of their coal and energy 
barons.
  Last month, House Republicans passed legislation that would rescind 
President Obama's action addressing air pollution and climate change. 
Senate Republicans, for their part, are trying the same thing with 
policy riders in the Senate Interior and Environment appropriations 
bill.
  Republicans would leave our children and grandchildren to pay the 
devastating costs of climate change. The Republicans have no solutions. 
They are afraid to acknowledge that climate change is a problem. It is.
  President Obama's Clean Power Plan is good for this country. It is 
the

[[Page S6249]]

strongest action we can take today to ensure a cleaner, healthier 
tomorrow for our children and grandchildren, and it has to be done 
administratively. We can't get anything done legislatively. It is all 
opposed by the Republicans.
  It would be good for my State of Nevada, where investment in clean 
energy is $6 billion. President Obama's plan gives States further 
flexibility to tailor programs for reducing carbon emissions while 
protecting public health and keeping electricity affordable and 
reliable.
  Already the plan has wide support in Nevada. An article from the 
Associated Press yesterday reads:

       Several Nevada government business leaders plan to voice 
     support for a federal campaign to limit carbon pollution from 
     power plants around the nation in an effort to address global 
     climate change. . . . Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval's energy 
     chief, Paul Thomsen, says Nevada is well-positioned to comply 
     with the first national limits on carbon dioxide from 
     existing power plants.

  Nevada understands the benefits clean energy brings to communities 
and the lives that will be improved by cleaning the air we breathe. 
Nevada is at the forefront of clean energy in the United States. Over 
the past decade, our clean energy infrastructure has expanded 
substantially, bringing good-paying jobs and new industries to Nevada. 
There can be no better place for President Obama to begin a dialogue 
with the Nation about the Clean Power Plan than Nevada.
  I am looking forward to President Obama's visit to Nevada later this 
month to speak at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas on 
August 24. This is the 8th annual National Clean Energy Summit.

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