[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12091]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 12091]]

                        CALIFORNIA ENERGY CRISIS

  (Mr. HERGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HERGER. Mr. Speaker, we have an energy crisis. Eight years of 
Clinton-Gore no-growth energy and Federal environmental policies have 
left us facing frequent shortages.
  In my home State of California, the population has grown by 4 million 
people over 10 years. The economy has doubled in half that time. Sadly, 
the radical environmentalists have prevented the construction of new 
power plants.
  The equation is simple: more people and no power plants equal 
blackouts. Rather than place blame, President Bush has proposed a 
responsible solution that seeks to address our dire situation, increase 
supply while offering incentives to reduce demand.
  While California is already the most energy efficient State in the 
country, the President's comprehensive policy will promote new power 
plant construction. It is not necessarily political, but it recognizes 
that there are no quick fixes to the years of policies that forced us 
deep into the dark.

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