[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3249]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        CONGRESS AND ADMINISTRATION SHOULD FOLLOW ICELAND'S LEAD

  (Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, the country of Iceland 
recently made the news with two separate announcements, one instructive 
and the other intriguing.
  First, Iceland announced it will not sign, it will not sign, the 
U.N.'s questionable Kyoto climate treaty because it would destroy its 
economy and bring unnecessary suffering to its citizens.
  Secondly, on February 17th, an Icelandic consortium signed an 
agreement for a joint venture to investigate the potential of 
transforming Iceland into the world's first hydrogen-based economy.
  One of the first results could be a hydrogen fuel cell-powered bus 
service. This would be an interesting development to monitor because of 
the environmental and energy security implications. Hydrogen fuel cells 
create their own electrical energy, with clean water as a by-product. 
Some estimate that vehicle efficiency can be improved by 50 percent, 
with no exhaust emissions.
  Mr. Speaker, it may be wise for Congress and this administration to 
follow Iceland's lead on both of these counts.

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