[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 4819-4820]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         CELEBRATING EARTH DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate our 46th Earth Day, it is 
critical that we recognize the opportunities that stem from addressing 
some of our most pressing environmental problems.
  All too often we hear the argument that environmental policies are 
agents of economic destruction. From the Clean Power Plan to renewable 
energy development and energy-efficient technologies, every time a new 
environmental policy is proposed, we hear the same rhetoric: This will 
kill jobs, drive up costs, destroy trade, and stifle America's ability 
to succeed.
  But the reality is those claims are simply not true. They have been 
debunked and proven wrong time and again, but the truth doesn't seem to 
matter when it comes to protecting our environment.
  Without a doubt, one of America's greatest assets is the ingenuity of 
its people. Throughout our Nation's history, American innovation has 
triumphed in the face of great challenges. Unleashing that American 
innovation can bring big wins for both the environment and the economy.
  There is no better example of this than when we look at our renewable

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energy sector. For decades, America has chased the promise of clean, 
domestic energy.
  In recent years, costs for numerous critical clean energy 
technologies--wind power, solar panels, super-energy-efficient LED 
lights and electric vehicles--have fallen dramatically.
  The accompanying surge in deployment has been impressive. While these 
technologies still represent a small percentage of their respective 
markets, that share is expanding at a rapid pace and influencing other 
markets.
  Today the U.S. generates 3 times as much wind power and 20 times as 
much solar power as we did in 2008. This kind of thinking will help 
States meet the EPA's requirements laid out in the Clean Power Plan.
  Compared with fossil fuel technologies, which are typically 
mechanized and capital-intensive, the renewable energy industry is more 
labor-intensive.
  This means that, on the average, more jobs are created for each unit 
of electricity generated from renewable sources than from fossil fuels.
  In addition to creating new jobs, increasing our use of renewable 
energy offers more important economic development benefits. Local 
governments collect property and income taxes and other payments from 
renewable energy project owners while owners of the land that wind 
projects are built on also receive lease payments ranging from $3,000 
to $6,000 per megawatt of installed capacity.
  A new study from the U.S. Energy Information Administration suggests 
that, in the coming year, the booming solar sector will add more new 
electricity-generating capacity than any other energy sector, including 
natural gas and wind.
  The more we support clean energy innovation and new technological 
ideas, the better positioned we are to reap the economic rewards.
  Examples of those wins are all around, leading to States and 
communities investing in clean energy innovation and developing smart, 
low-cost technologies to help reduce energy costs.
  On this front, my home State of Illinois is moving full steam ahead. 
The city of Chicago has partnered with utility companies and citizen 
groups to work on a new initiative to get 1 million smart thermostats 
into northern Illinois homes by 2020.
  The innovative partnership offers rebates that will nearly halve the 
cost of thermostats that allow residents to control the temperatures of 
their homes via mobile devices. This helps us once again move the 
needle against climate change.
  Of course, clean energy technology isn't our only energy innovation 
success story. Energy efficiency is truly our Nation's greatest energy 
achievement.
  Without the gains in energy efficiency made since 1973, it is 
estimated that today's U.S. economy would require 60 percent more 
energy than we currently consume.
  Energy efficiency improvements over the last 40 years have reduced 
our national energy bill by more than $700 billion.
  Instead of working from the assumption that tighter regulations will 
hurt our government's export share, we should focus on the edge that we 
gain from innovation.
  This Earth Day, I challenge my colleagues to realize the opportunity 
that climate change provides us and support solutions that allow us to 
turn what used to be daunting challenges into profitable opportunities.

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