[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 123 (Tuesday, July 18, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H3687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            AMERICA NEEDS A RELIABLE DECARBONIZED POWER GRID

  (Mr. CASTEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, can we maintain an affordable, reliable, and 
decarbonized grid if we rely only on traditional renewables?
  To hear our Republican colleagues talk, absolutely not. They say that 
nuclear and advanced fossil fuels and hydrogen all have to be in the 
mix. As the old saw goes, when you are in a negotiation, don't watch 
the other guy's lips, watch his feet.
  The Republicans' proposed appropriations package includes $15 
billion--that is a 20 percent cut--in the title 17 program. This is the 
loan program office that helps those early stage technologies get to 
commercialization.
  This program, by the way, is currently massively oversubscribed. Of 
their existing $73 billion of loan authority, they have already 
received over $90 billion of applications of which 37 percent offer 
carbon management, advanced nuclear, and fossil fuel technologies 
included that my colleagues claim to hold dear.
  These technologies are critically important to the future of our 
energy system. They all critically need government support to get to 
commercialization, and they would all be cut by the proposed Republican 
budget.
  I want a reliable, decarbonized power grid that uses all those 
technologies and more. My colleagues across the aisle, on the other 
hand, seem to be rooting for blackouts--or worse.
  I know that is true because in the words of Shakira--feet don't lie.

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