[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 50 (Monday, April 4, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S1624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         MADE-IN-MONTANA ENERGY

  Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, made-in-Montana energy means good Montana 
jobs that on average pay two to three times more than the State 
average. In fact, Montana's ability to create more good-paying energy 
jobs is immense. Our State leads the Nation in recoverable coal 
deposits. We are the Nation's fifth largest producer of hydropower, 
with 23 hydroelectric dams across the State, and we are fifth in wind 
energy potential.
  In fact, Montana was center stage in the national energy debate and 
provides our Nation a template of a true ``all of the above'' energy 
portfolio. We have coal, natural gas, oil, as well as renewables such 
as hydro, wind, biomass, and solar opportunities.
  What makes our State most valuable are the people who make our energy 
systems work--towns such as Colstrip, MT, that build communities around 
livelihoods that are reliant on good-paying energy jobs. That is the 
good news.
  Here is the bad news: Montana energy jobs are under assault. Over the 
past 2 weeks, I heard from Montanans about the future and importance of 
made-in-Montana energy and made-in-Montana good-paying jobs. During my 
week-long tour across our State, I once again saw our vast natural 
resources and our true energy potential, whether it was touring a wind 
farm near Baker, MT, on the far eastern side of our State, or seeing 
the hydropower facility at Helena's Hauser Dam, or hosting a townhall 
at Colstrip. I was hearing directly from the community about the 
devastating impacts that President Obama's anti-coal regulations will 
have on hard-working Montanans.
  My statewide energy tour culminated this past week at Montana Energy 
2016, where over 600 people gathered in Billings, MT, for a Montana 
family conversation about our State's energy future. During that 2\1/
2\-day summit, we heard a consistent and powerful message about the 
need to maximize our opportunity for growth and expand made-in-Montana 
energy and the good-paying jobs it supports.
  Montanans are leading American energy innovation; for example, 
Montanans such as Chrystal Cuniff, a Montana tech engineer from 
Choteau, who helped drill the deepest well in the Gulf of Mexico, or 
Ryan Lance, a Montana native, a graduate of Montana Tech, who is 
leading one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, or 
Ashley Dennehey from Colstrip, who highlighted how the boilermakers, 
operators, and other hard-working labor groups in her community are 
working hard to keep the lights on in the face of adversity.
  We must continue investing in our 2-year colleges that provide 
training in trades such as welding and heavy machine operations so we 
can keep our kids in Montana with good, high-paying energy jobs. In 
fact, Business Insider released a map that shows how hard these times 
are for millenials, highlighting their median income across the United 
States. Montana ranked 50th, dead last, at a median income of $18,000 a 
year for millenials.
  We cannot forget that Montana coal provides tax revenues of $145 
million a year which supports our teachers and our schools. Montana 
should lead the world in developing clean coal technology. We must 
continue to develop renewable technologies that will store the power 
created by wind.
  The bottom line is, we should not allow Washington, DC, and the Obama 
administration to dictate and regulate coal and gas out of existence. 
We need more made-in-Montana energy, not more made-in-the-Middle-East 
energy. Make no mistake, President Obama's Environmental Protection 
Agency and their regulations are killing Montana energy.
  Our country's future is very bright if we could unleash the power of 
innovation and rein in the overregulation of Washington, DC. I couldn't 
agree more with what Darrin Old Coyote, chairman of the Crow Nation 
tribes, said in his keynote address at Montana Energy 2016 in Billings 
just last Thursday. He said this: ``All of Montana citizens need to 
work together for a better tomorrow: renewable energy, fossil energy, 
conventional energy, Indian or non-Indian, regardless of political 
affiliation, whether we are Democrats, Republicans or Independents.''
  Montanans can find better solutions than Washington, DC, bureaucrats.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 15 
minutes in morning business.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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