Sen. Barbara Boxer Holds a Hearing On Clean Energy
Political Transcript Wire › October 07, 2009
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Sen. Barbara Boxer Holds a Hearing On Clean Energy
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS HOLDS A HEARING ON CLEAN ENERGY
JULY 7, 2009SPEAKERS: SEN. BARBARA BOXER, D-CALIF. CHAIRMAN SEN. MAX BAUCUS, D-MONT. SEN. THOMAS R. CARPER, D-DEL. SEN. FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, D-N.J. SEN. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, D-MD. SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, D-MINN. SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, D-R.I. SEN. TOM UDALL, D-N.M. SEN. JEFF MERKLEY, D-ORE. SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, D-N.Y. SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, D-PA.SEN. BERNARD SANDERS, I-VT.SEN. JAMES M. INHOFE, R-OKLA. RANKING MEMBER SEN. GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, R-OHIO SEN. DAVID VITTER, R-LA. SEN. MICHAEL D. CRAPO, R-IDAHO SEN. CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, R-MO. SEN. JOHN BARRASSO, R-WYO. SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER, R-TENN.WITNESSES: SECRETARY OF ENERGY STEVEN CHUSECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE TOM VILSACKSECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR KEN SALAZARLISA JACKSON, ADMINISTRATOR, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY GOV. HALEY BARBOUR, R-MISS.RICH WELLS, VICE PRESIDENT FOR ENERGY, DOW CHEMICAL COMPANYDAVID HAWKINS, DIRECTOR, CLIMATE CENTER, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCILJOHN FETTERMAN, MAYOR, BRADDOCK, PENNSYLVANIA[*] BOXER: Hearing will come to order. We want to welcome everybody here and very happy to see this excellent turnout. Couple of comments before I begin. We received a letter -- I guess we just received it, from the republican side asking for a number of hearings on a number of topics. I'm happy to inform them that they're already scheduled and we've been working particularly with Senator Voinovich because he asked for several of these. So all of this that you have requested will be handled over the next two weeks and we appreciate your interest. I also -- I'm going to ask people if they can keep their opening statements to two minutes, if possible. But I understand members on the other side of the aisle wanted to have five. So you're welcome to take five if you need it. The reason I'm trying to expedite things is we have four very important leaders of the administration here and I would like to get to them. But if anyone needs to go five minutes, that's fine. (UNKNOWN): How about three-and-a-half? BOXER: You can go up to five minutes. It's fine. Let me -- let me open this this way. Today's hearing is the kickoff of a historic Senate effort to pass legislation that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, create millions of clean energy jobs and protect our children from pollution. The central theme in Thomas Friedman's book, "Hot, Flat and Crowded," is this: the nation that aggressively addresses the issue of climate change will be the nation that will thrive, the nation that will lead and will be the nation that will prosper. Here is what Friedman writes in his own words, quote, "The ability to develop clean power and energy efficient technologies is going to become the defining measure of a country's economic standing, environmental health, energy security and national security over the next 50 years." We know that this premise is being bourn out even in this recession. In California which has been one of the hardest hit by the housing crisis and the financial crisis, by a state budget crisis, the are that has outperformed every other has been the creation of clean energy jobs and businesses. A recent report by the Pew Charitable Trust found that more than 10,000 new clean energy businesses were launched in California from 1998 to 2007. During that period, clean energy investments created more than 125,000 jobs in California and generated jobs 15 percent faster than our economy in our state as a whole. Our committee has held more than 40 hearings and briefings on global warming since January of '07 and we are going to hold many more as I stated before. We are well aware of the work done on the dangers of global warming by the Bush administration and the Obama administration. A few weeks ago, this administration released a sobering report on the impacts global warming is having across the United States and the devastating effects that will come if we don't take action: droughts, flood, fires, loss of species, damage to agriculture, worsening air pollution. These are examples. Today, I am so pleased to welcome leaders of the Obama administration as they encourage us to act, to act on the heels of the passage of the Waxman-Markey bill in the House. Today I expect you will hear fierce words of doubt and fear from the other side of the aisle regarding our legislative efforts. This is consistent with a pattern of no; no we can't, no we won't. I believe th...See the full content of this document
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