[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16492]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          PROVIDING A TRUE DECLARATION OF ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Millions of Americans have been and are under the 
threat of violent weather changes, floods, droughts, scorching heat, 
extraordinary cold, and food insecurity. We are running out of time to 
craft practicable, workable solutions to moderate the effects of global 
climate change brought on by global greenhouse gasses.
  We are past the tipping point, and instead of talking about saving 
ourselves, we are talking about saving the coal industry. Our first 
steps on the path to a clean energy future will leave footprints caked 
in coal, because under the bill, U.S. fossil fuel emissions aren't 
required to fall until 2030. The bill will facilitate the licensing of 
25 new coal-fired plants with free permits to pollute. It guarantee 
coal's future by spending $60 billion on an unproven, leaky technology 
where CO2 is pumped into the ground.
  We can still save ourselves and our planet, or we can save the coal 
industry. We can have a carbon-free and nuclear-free world which comes 
into harmony with nature's god through the creation of tens of millions 
of new wind and solar microtechnologies which will lower energy costs 
and make for a true declaration of energy independence. I will soon be 
introducing a bill to accomplish just that.
  The American people are waiting to be inspired with a vision and a 
reality of a green future.

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