[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 27]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 36179]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 INTRODUCTION OF THE RENEWABLE HEAT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DON YOUNG

                               of alaska

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, December 17, 2007

  Mr. YOUNG of Alaska. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the 
Renewable and Hydro-electric Energy for Alaska's Tomorrow Act, the 
Renewable HEAT Act. The purpose of this legislation is to authorize the 
Department of Energy to provide grants for carrying out renewable 
energy and hydroelectric projects.
  Similar, yet more restrictive, language was included in the Senate-
passed energy bill, H.R. 6. The bill, written in secret behind closed 
doors by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, is hardly an 
energy bill. More accurately described as the ``Energy Suicide Act,'' 
this bill will do nothing to reduce our dependence on hostile foreign 
nations, nor will it bring relief to Americans suffering from rising 
energy costs. In fact, it will do the opposite. The only positive 
aspect of this bill is the provision providing grants for renewable 
energy, and more importantly, Alaska small hydroelectric projects.
  Madam Speaker, I cannot in good conscience vote for a bill that tries 
to fool the American people into thinking we are going to be able to 
lower their energy prices. How can we lower costs and become energy 
independent if there is no production? Essentially, it is economic 
terrorism. And who is dictating the terms of this bill? The 
environmental groups funded by millionaires who don't lose any sleep 
wondering how they are going to heat their homes, as temperatures drop. 
We are approaching a state of crisis, where oil is trading for $90 a 
barrel.
  As I stated earlier, the only real energy provided for in the 
deceptive H.R. 6 is for hydroelectric power in Alaska. My colleagues 
seem to think that water is the only resource needed to keep a world 
power running. Since I cannot vote for this bill in its entirety, I 
have introduced this legislation to provide grant money for hydropower 
to my State of Alaska. Hydroelectric power is the Nation's largest 
renewable energy source and accounts for seven percent of America's 
electricity supply. Even though Alaska is one-sixth the size of the 
entire Nation, it is home to about 40 percent of the country's free-
flowing freshwater.
  Rural Alaskan communities have the highest utility rates in America, 
paying up to six times the national average, while also suffering the 
lowest per capita incomes. Currently, heating oil costs between $3 and 
$5 a gallon. The diesel-fired electricity so many Alaskan communities 
rely upon is not only expensive, it's dirty. The generators are old, 
unreliable, and release pollutants into the air, and in order to 
conserve money, are usually turned off at night. The grants this bill 
provides will assist these areas in the transition to clean, more 
affordable energy by giving them the funding to harvest the natural 
flow of water that surrounds them.
  It has become clear to me that the United States Congress has no 
intention of taking care of the American people by making sure they can 
heat their homes and put food on their plates. Therefore, I must make 
sure my Alaskans are taken care of, while they endure some of the 
coldest temperatures in the country.

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