all morning the subcommittee will come to order pursuant to notice the subcommittee on energy and environment needs to consider the following measures h r thirty six fifty the harmful algal blooms and hypoxia research and control amendments act of two thousand and nine h r thirty five eighty five the solar technology roadmap act h r thirty five ninety eight the energy and water research immigration act today will consider these three bills that cover a wide range of topics in this subcommittees purview first the subcommittee will consider my bill h r thirty six fifty the harmful algal blooms and hypoxia research  control amendments act of two thousand and nine as we heard in this committee two weeks ago rapid overproduction of algae can have a devastating effect on aquatic plant and animal life and human health unfortunately despite years of research the frequency and duration of the harmful algal blooms on h call it up for consideration our third bill will be h r thirty five eighty five we're changing the order flight lee in order for the chairman to chairman gordon to make energy in congress markup or third bill will be h r thirty five eighty five the solar technology roadmap act authored by the subcommittee chair ms gabrielle giffords that bill instructs the department of energy to create a road map a comprehensive and updatable road map for solar research development and demonstration activities with strong private and public input this road map will be critically important using  limited research dollars as effectively as possible and harnessing the truly immense solar resources we have in the u s then our second bill will be h r thirty five ninety eight the energy and water research integration act authored by the full committee chairman mr gordon a little over a year ago the chairman began a comprehensive review of our federal research and technology development efforts to impute improve utilization of our precious water resources the committee has since held five hearings and passed out of the house three bills pertaining to this important topic we now look forward to hearing from chairman gordon on this next installment which addresses the critical linkage between our nation's energy and water resources and directs the department of energy to better integrate water into existing federal efforts in the field the three bills we have before us today target several important research needs i thank you all for your attendance and participation this morning i look forward to a productive markup and i recognize mr inglis to present his opening remarks thank you mr chairman today we just said three pieces of legislation to aim to improve that aim to improve the health of our environment our investment in solar energy and the impact of energy use and development on water resources a first bill a look at is the harmful algal bloom in a box the research and control amendments act of two thousand and nine will advance efforts at the federal level to reduce the negative impact that al blooms have on the environment every summer we hear stories about the impact of runaway algae growth on local air quality animal tests and environmental quality not only do these blooms impact recreation the bird marine commerce and human health this legislation will promote a better understanding of algal blooms and will help us affectively prevent and respond to blooms and a box the second will discuss the solar technology roadmap act this bill aims to increase the strength of our domestic solar technology industry through a coordinated research and development program and public private partnerships it also requires industry academia and government researchers to develop a long term roadmap that will advance our clean energy alternatives i hope we can ensure that the road map is not focused on technology options we are already aware of but also emphasizes cutting edge advancements that will define the future of solar power finally we turn the to the energy and water research integration act which directs department energy to take into consideration energy related water issues you know research development and demonstration projects well i agree with the intent of bill i'm concerned this language only affirms existing dealy priorities and ignores a large role that water resource information should play i'm looking forward to working together to improve the bill thank you mr chairman i look forward to addressing this legislation i thank the strangling members may play statements in the record at this point will not consider h r third six fifty the harmful algal blooms and hypoxia research and control amendments act of two thousand and nine i recognize myself for five minutes to describe the bill h r thirty six fifty reauthorizes law as well as with the states tribes non governmental organizations and other federal agencies to avoid duplications efforts h r thirty six fifty explicitly directs the e p a administrator and the undersecretary to coordinate efforts to address fresh water harmful algal blooms an hypoxia the bill requires the undersecretary to transmit to congress an action strategy that outlines the specific activities for the program and also directs the task force established in one thousand nine hundred law to transmit a report to congress on hypoxia on the coastal an estuary waters of the pacific northwest and develop a plan for reducing mitigating and controlling hypoxia to accomplish these objectives the bill provides an authorization of thirty five million dollars over five years for nola for the overall program and six million dollars for five years for e p a to conduct a fresh water habs program i'm proud to say the bill has been a joint effort with my colleague from michigan mr akers or dr ayers and i want to particularly commend him for his many years of work on this and his commitment to the great lakes regions on a host of topics i also want to thank him for being a consistent champion for no out and these related issues we also have several other co sponsors mr mack and his cast of florida mr delahunt of massachusetts and mr crowd of el of maryland on that note i encourage all of my fellow subcommittee colleagues to co sponsor this important legislation i look forward to further improvements as we move it to the full committee and i now recognize mr inglis to present any remarks on the bill thank you mr chairman at our hearing two weeks ago we heard a considerable amount about work being done to understand haves and have boxes and to improve national communication about events we also heard about promising approaches to take action to prevent control and mitigate the negative effects of runaway growth h r six thirty six fifty is a next step in creating response programs nationwide and reducing the negative effects of on recreation and our marine in a kind of me i'd like to thank the majority staff for working with minority staff on this legislation and look forward to its passage does any other member wish to be recognized consent that the bill is considered as read and open to amendment it at any point without objection so ordered the first amendment on the roster is a manager's amendment and the clerk will report the amendment series of clarifying changes throughout the bill many in response to suggestions made in the subcommittee hearing two weeks ago and at this point i want to make sure i put into the record our gratitude for the outstanding testimony we had from witnesses we went very carefully through all of their written and spoken testimony  believe that the vast majority of the recommendations which were quite sound have been included in the amendment the amendment makes changes to the reflect the addition of existing no up activities to the program and provides for the establishment of an event response program and infrastructure program as recommended deadlines for the report's the congress are changed to allow adequate time for completion of the action strategy regional plans and reports while also maintain responsible level of accountability language is also added to ensure that no works in coordination with and does not duplicate the efforts of other federal agencies the member also expands the authorization of appropriation section to provide more specificity to the direction of the funding of the bill the amendment again is the product of discussions between majority and minority staff in approves a bill and ensures a more effective efficient and highly collaborative program i urge colleagues to support the amendment is there further discussion on the amendment if though the vote occurs on the amendment all in favor say aye those opposed no the ayes have it the amendment is agreed to issue as you know these harmful algal blooms are having a substantially negative impact on our waterways and as a representative of maryland the health and welfare of the chesapeake bay and its tributaries is a top priority of mine maryland is a large  chesapeake bay is the largest estuary in the country and currently nitrogen and phosphorus pollution are the most serious problems facing the bay too much nitrogen and phosphorus cause these out of limbs that block sunlight to underwater grasses and when the blooms decompose they consume oxygen and create dead zones all through the bay and its tributaries were dissolved oxygen levels are too low to sustain marine life the impact is negative to the plants in the sea life in the bay and its tributaries for example from historic level and reduced amounts of the underwater grass habitat in addition to low summer levels of dissolved oxygen continue to keep the crab population well below average the health of the chesapeake bay is so great that on may twelfth two thousand and nine president obama issued executive order thirteen five zero eight to protect and restore the bay watershed for federal agencies are tasked with looking out for the health of the chesapeake bay i wanted to make sure this bill addressed to the bay and other similar bodies of water there for my amendment and then section five regional research action plans to require that the under secretary consider the impact research and existing program activities of all united states coastal and coastlines and freshen inland water threat to the health of americans and to the national economy which is why we must have a comprehensive an all inclusive approach of addressing this issue on a national level again i thank you for your leadership and look forward to the consideration of this amendmen the vote is on the bill h r thirty six fifty as amended all those will in favor will say aye all those voters know in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it now recognize myself to offer a motion i move that subcommittee favorably report r thirty six fifty as amended to the full committee furthermore i move that the staff be instructed to prepare the subcommittee report and make necessary technical and conforming changes to the bill in accordance with the recommendations of the subcommittee question is on the motion reports a bill favorably those unfair the motion signify by saying i oppose no you guys have it the bill is favorably reported without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table members will have two subsequent calendar days in which to submit supplemental minority or additional views on the m earlier with misgivings patients will move to consider the bill by mr gordon as markup in another committee will now consider h r thirty five ninety eight the energy and water research integration act i recognize chairman gordon to talk about his bill thank you fortunate to have an outstanding staff to help you with this but it really does i think help us to have better product when we go through a subcommittee process rather than just do everything at the full committee level that allows us to have more input from from the minority from outside folks and just get better bill better bills and again i thank you you have really been the workhorse of our committee now concerning this bill to meet our future demands for both energy and water we will need to better understand the linkage between these two important resources energies need to treat and transport while large quantities quantities of water are used to develop energy supplies h r thirty five ninety eight the energy and water research integration act s to address the nexus of our energy and water resources by requiring the secretary to integrate water related issues into the department's existing energy efficiency and energy technology research development and demonstration programs the bill authorizes sixty million dollars annually for five years for this research additionally h r thirty five ninety eight create an energy water architecture council that will facilitate the collaboration of industry academia and the federal government in improving energy and water resource data collection reporting and technological innovation to be a law prizes five million dollars annually to the secretary of energy for five years for this purpose after five committee hearings on water including one specifically related to the energy water nexus this legislation is result of serious investigation by the committee h r thirty five ninety eight has been informed by the witnesses testimonies and reports from the national academies the government accountability office the national science technology council and the department of energy this legislation provides additional tools and a national effort to address the growing problems related to supply and quality of water and energy and augment the entered the interagency coordinating effort laid out in my other bil r eleven forty five the national water research and development initiative act of two thousand and nine and courage all my colleagues on the subcommittee to join me in this effort in support h r thirty five ninety eight let me also say to mr inglis duly noted your earlier concerns and and certainly want to continue to work with you as we go from the subcommittee to the full committee level as as always you have you make constructive suggestions to make good bills better thank you m chairman thank you mr chairman and i just want to commend you you know i would not be surprised at all of this or well look back at the last century was the century voile this next century may be the century of water and you are as always well ahead of the curve on on that issue and on the chairman so as more and more of our communities experience water stress and our population continues to grow the energy water nexus is increasingly important managers of electricity generation facilities refineries mine and industrial facilities are painfully aware of what constrained water resources can mean for their operations to ensure that we make the best decisions about the future energy infrastructure and technology do we should take into account ways to manage water demands in energy production it's reassuring to know that several programs have already been addressing this need still our water resource problems are predicted to become more severe and more work needs to be done as deely continued its efforts to ensure act includes several reports on water resource issues relying on this information will ensure that deal we focuses their resources in the most efficient way possible to make the most progress in areas most at risk i intend to offer i thank you for the time do other members wish to be recognized if not i will ask unanimous consent of the bill is considered as read and open to a member at any point at the members proceed with the amendments policy management makes a series of changes throughout h r thirty five ninety eight to clarify the intent of the legislation and to incorporate recommendations from witnesses in addition this amendment is a product of good suggestions put forth by the minority and we thank you for those insightful comments section to h r thirty five ninety eight is an amendment to clarify that the intent of the bill is to integrate water related issues into the apartments existing energy efficiency energy technology research development and demonstration programs the bill is not meant to create a new program at the only or involve every program within the agency section three of the bill is amended to ensure that the energy and water architecture coun includes a wide variety of nonfederal members which with expertise across the energy water spectrum for the more this section is modified to clarify that the council will bring informed government academic and industry stakeholders to the table to begin talks about what a smart water grid would entail based on what is recommendation the management modify section three to laugh original as well as national technical workshops regional workshops will follow for will allow for a greater  range of potential strike otis patient and bring focus to regional specific issues and solutions this memo is a result of good suggestions from our minority and witnesses from past technology committee hearings and ask my colleagues to support the amendment i thank the chairman further discussion on the amendment or the bill  this may be an appropriate place for a question that i have as you're aware the federal government generally defers to the states primacy on allocation of surface water and groundwater within their jurisdiction historically water quantity and allocation decisions including water efficiency incentives have been state matters whereas water quality has been the purview of the federal government the majority of water supply planning and water quantity regulations of burned by state and local entities given that water rights and usage authority and decisions generally reside with states and localities could water related r and d project requirements energy water systems analysis and associated  involvement by state and local agencies in v o a sponsored project approval or operations and if so what would that involvement  very good question and i'm going to yield to staff for a good answer here who would like to take that  on i definitely think that there would be greater involvement from the states and we would encourage more collaboration and individual technologies i think the thrust  is to look for best ideas from all areas and so i think these workshops would certainly allow for that additional input thank you much traditionally the federal government been involved only in water quality where the quantity and usurp that but rather to provide them with additional information so they can make those decisions thank you very much thank you miss bigger thank you mr chairman and i i do want to say that i i really support the intent of this bill and just have a couple questions number one as introduced the bill requires the secretary of energy in carrying out each of the energy r and d programs of the d o a to advance energy and energy efficiency technologies and practices and incorporate appropriate a host of requirements and one for example would be to incorporate new advanced cooling technologies for energy generation and fuel production technologies does that mean that for every r and d program d o a new advanced cooling technologies would need to be utilized and would these technologies be those  seeking to demonstrate on a commercial scale and with these technologies be those seeking to demonstrate that industry developed that were unable to penetrate the market and with the cost of installation incorporate in all areas research is where appropriate ok would then with these technologies be those dailies seeking to demonstrate on commercial scale that that once again it's to the discretion of the secretary where they think it would be appropriate and unofficial so there's no talk of well what we would be thinking that they would that the secretary would consider would would cost of the installation be a determining factor i would certainly think that that would be a factor when the sector would have taken to account there are limited limited dollars to go around as there it was there any change in the manager manager's amendment language to address the what  seems like a broad mandate placed on the department to develop the research development demonstration program well once again it says it does not require it to be integrated in every project but rather leave that to discretion of the secretary and i would assume the secretary recognizing their limited funds would certainly take that into consideration ok then with the creation of the energy water architecture council and section three it seems to be allowable goal but does do you think that it duplicate efforts made by other department agencies the private sector it seems that other bodies created under prior but i think it should be noted that the technical workshop seemed to duplicate the efforts made on behalf of these issues by the private sector including those industrial groups so maybe they want to switch and that was think the private sector  would like to have a direct conduit to getting their recommendations into federal policy what would the five million dollars per year and authorization be used to pay for the putting on these technical workshops yes what we have failed is that if you and what we try to do in a variety of ways is recognize that there are limited resources whether it's water different areas now technology you know we are trying to set up  coordination between the various federal agencies to better use that money we find that if if you do not give an authorization and they have to use your existing ministry expenses or or  fines they simply don't do as good a job a short change and so that would that was the purpose yes to cover the cost of those original meetings so you think that these workshops would be more informative than those held at the annual meetings and conferences sponsored by the industry industry and then vestment groups well i think a couple things one they will be this will be a way for them not just to talk among themselves but also be able to talk to policy makers which is something that i think they will want to do secondly i think that it's important the the some of the water problems in arizona or different than water problems in new york or tennessee so i think it is important that we have the regional meetings so that again part of what we're trying to do is gather information so that communities can make good decisions and that water problems simply differ in different regions of the country and just quickly section three states at the energy water architecture council is to promote an enable improved energy and water resource data collection reporting and technology technological innovation does this mean that the technology technological innovation in is in water resource data collecting and reporting this is where it would be directly related to energy production that nexus again that we've discussed between water and energy ok and then if if appropriations are provided under section two d how would the funds be distributed and allocated  very very nervous about dryer states trying to steal the water from the great lakes and the issue that bird was raised is right on one point that the federal government has no control over the distribution of the water that the states control  just the quality of it and would make sure that clearly in the record thank you thank you dr elders are there other members wishing to be recognized on the amendment you know the vote occurs on the amendment all in favor  r thirty five ninety eight and then number one zero one five offered by mr inglis of south carolina i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the reading without objection so ordered i recognize the gentleman for five minutes to explain the amendment thank you m chairman clemson university is restoration institute recently launched intelligent river realtime observation system that supports monitoring the management of one hundred fifty four miles of the savannah river along the banks of south carolina shores the project started with the intent of monitoring river health but real time information has piqued the interest of local stakeholders who can use it to more efficiently manage water withdrawal and discharges during periods of water stress this information is also a powerful input for long term investment decisions in water use technologies the public lands bill that went into law earlier this year directed the department of interior to conduct  water census the census will provide information on water quality availability flow use and storage you know generate models and predictive tools to guide water use decisions all this information is intended to help us effectively manage competing water interest in future decisions similar to as mentioned what the clinton university's restoration institute has been doing my man mitt would require dealy to take into account the information coming out of the water census  program may be under cerebral so i will withdraw my and then meet this time hope that we can work with us at the staff level in advance of the full committee markup to ensure that this important information is incorporated into d decision making and mr chairman i also use this time if i may to ask some questions of counsel that you get it is basically what we're after here is that the at this water sense is coming and so the question is whether to sort of work into this bill some sort of delay in till that water census is here because just mentioning this savannah river study really has turned up some interesting things  so the directive now to the dealy may be premature in light of that water since it's coming it's also some banks still on this side that you've already heard here about whether how you do this to make these directives but then pull back and give the secretary discretion so it is this bill drafted it has a series of shall and its is as necessary so it's a little  bit we're in a quandary about how you do ask that you tell them we want you to do this but we want to give you discretion which i think that the chairman of the full committee is right to want to give the surge a discretion but we also want them to act so it's a hard balance here to figure out whether you direct and give discretion or how you how you do that so some questions from for a council that may get at some of this and prepare us for working hopefully in a collaborative way between here and full committee to figure out how to address this water since this issue number one and number two how do you directed the only but then given the ability to have discretion the first questions you need is work currently being done by the  sis this bill was developed with the knowledge that some of this work is going on at the g o p we have looked at several other projects that have been funded not all for example is doing ten different projects we have not done an assessment of every single project that all the different programs that do has included energy and water nexus information and in fact we asked that question deeley and we get sort of a two page summary but not a real comprehensive list of what they're doing so perhaps when you're in full committee we can get some help from you on that i'm getting from daily a more complete answer that the gentleman would yield i might add to that i think up certainly the this the census is an important document and we need to get that but we know the general report is going to say that there are limits to water availability now we want to get into more regions and things of that nature but we know it's going to be basic bottom line is that there are those limitation and so i think that that it that it would not be bastareaud but necessary to wait for that to come back to go ahead and get started with this  energy water nexus research the sort of what you might say stop and start is a recognition of two things one that we do have limited resources and two we want to use those best and so that's why we want to be able to allow the secretary where needed to use of limited resources and again to coordinate those those activities without imposing additional mandates that they're not going to have the funds for employ incorporate new technologies whether it's daily is already doing some projects and demonstrations we surely wouldn't think of any delays we have any idea how this new requirement might so and then the third question how can we ensure that progress in water use efficiency made by individual projects of programs is communicated to interested parties in dealey and relevant in agencies are doing some projects and programs and we want to know what and how we're going to void the duplication we have discussed several issues with the department of energy and they have told us that they're already coordinating this research for example not all of these are you talking to so it's just sort of summarize here in between here and four committee we hope we can work together to figure out a couple things one is how to interstate the water census you know that we're going to get out of that second is how to work with this thing about telling the secretary to do something but then pulling up from that directive to say as appropriate we believe is it it is appropriate to pull out from the directive a little bit because we do want them to have discretion otherwise why would  you have a computer instead of a secretary and so so we've got to figure out how to work that in legislation you know the thing that i think the third sort area that i had of concern is you know commercial real estate lawyer i'm not in congress and sometimes i have important residential closing are the note the mortgage the title insurance policy in the survey that's the rest of it is totally inane oh i'm sorry the headline is important because it shows where the money goes but you get these affidavit about why you live where you live i once had a affidavit where i had to get a client to sign saying that they they they lived in south carolina but worked in georgia and so somebody to check off this list and it's meaningless it's just another scrap of paper that's stuck in the file we want to make i think the chairman here wants to do real serious work with this water stuff what we want to do is in this directive to the secretary have some kind of directive and also give him discretion but not in depth with a useless piece of paper where they're checking off something in the system wide they're checking off this will piece of paper but in this affidavit of residency in the file nobody cares about they need to look at it they didn't read all of my silly whereas is that i put in there you know they didn't notice that i was making fun of them and so we don't want that kind of set up and that's where we would do serious work  i recognize myself to offer motion i move the subcommittee favorably report h r thirty five ninety eight as amended to the full committee furthermore i moved the step instructed to prepare the subcommittee report to make necessary technical and conforming changes to the bill in accordance with the recommendations of the subcommittee the question is on the motion to report the bill favorably those in favor signify by saying i know habitability favorably reported without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table members will have two subsequent calendar days in which to submit supplemental minority or additional views on the measure we will now appreciate the patience of the gentle lady from arizona we will now consider h r thirty five ninety eight the energy and water research website we are going to reconsider bards bill i'm kidding about  that we will now consider h r thirty five eighty five the solar technology roadmap act i recognize ms giffords to speak about her bill mr chairman thank you ranking member inglis united states has some of the best solar resources of any industrialized country in the world not just the state of arizona but every single one of our states has incredible solar potential this resource is just waiting to be tapped supporting an american solar industry is a smart decision for many reasons the solar industry is already a source of thousands of good jobs and has potential to create thousands of more solar power strengthens our national security by reducing our demand for foreign energy and distributed solar increases the security  and decreases the cost of transmission finally solar can help meet our increasing energy demands with a clean renewable energy resource the united states is currently a leader in solar technology development but other countries are devoting much more effort and attention to this field consequently the united states competitiveness in this burgeoning industry is truly in jeopardy there have been several recent articles in many newspapers many reports that highlighted the fast growth of solar industry in china and other places europe of course whether it's the i m f in belgium or the frown hoffer institute in germany collaborative research and solar technology is gaining support abroad back in july this committee heard testimony outlined the history of th the film solar technologies that have created two of the most successful solar companies in the world first solar and you know solar these companies are technology leaders and the research that led to their technology was were all largely a result of research grants being given by the department of energy we invented this technology but we're going to have to work a lot harder we're going to retain our leadership and this is the essence of this bill and the early one nine hundred eighty s the global competitive landscape for semiconductors was similar to the landscape for solar technology today by increasing communication between the diverse members of the supply chain the united states and my conductor industry was able to develop standards and avoid duplication and research effort through organized coordination efforts and increased focus on developing manufacturing technologies united states gave rise to semiconductor giants like intel and a m d as a result of these coordinated r and d efforts the united states continued to lead the world in semiconductor development today solar research in the united states are in a similar situation to maintain a competitive advantage they must come together to meet their common pre competitive goals whether in simulation developing new materials energy storage power and grid management mounting or even weather forecasting this bill would require the department of energy to learn from the road map laid out the nine hundred eighty s in the semiconductor industry to engage diverse stakeholders now in the solar community and work across programs to create a comprehensive plan a road map to guide funding for the research needed to make the united states the global center for innovation this bill aims to make dealy responsive to the solar industry and to encourage increased collaboration and communication across technology to mr engel says question this bill is agnostic toward any specific type of technology what this bill would do would connect research from early stage all the way through deployment supporting research in areas that benefit the solar industry as a whole and shepherd the new technologies through the valley of death this will help the united states retain its position as a leader in solar technology  chairman ranking member unless we have an opportunity to be the leading developer and export of clean solar technologies in the coming years and decades this technology is fantastic not just for arizona but for all of our states i want to be able to look back ten years from now and know that here in this subcommittee we started the road map plan for solar that will truly lead to the advancement of this incredible technology and i urge my colleagues to support this bill ms giffords thank you for your eloquent remarks and your leadership on this issue which as you said so well as obviously very influenced influenced by this but it effects the entire nation and it would be a real tragedy if the united states lost its leading role and there's a real possibility that that will happen with many other nations making a very vigorous commitment applaud you for this bill and i now recognize mr inglis reason they remarks thank you mr chairman interest in new solar projects is blooming right now through our domestic manufacturing cape though our domestic manufacturing capabilities are lagging behind international trading partners this bill seeks to change that through an energized research program and a roadmap that will direct research and development according to specific near made and long term goals this roadmap should leave room for the unforeseeable opportunities that may come up at the early or as do you we academia in the private sector continue investing in solar research may also be necessary to reconsider the authorization levels included in this bill as they are considerably above the current base budget for solar power i'd like to applaud miss giffords for her dedication to make the united states a leader in solar power and solar technologies and look years in the in the future projections and more people talk about the need for alternative sources of energy and we talk about it a lot too and we try to do something about it but i think we are missing the point on a couple of things i'm amazed at the number of things that the federal government has decided should be supported with tax credits or some other means of support for example  c in the paper every day put better windows in your house the federal government will pay you fifteen hundred dollars and things like that i wish we would be a serious about alternative energy sources and  energy has the potential of being most useful when it's widely dispersed in other words i'm very skeptical about the big solar farms that people talk about building that's very expensive and the amount of energy you get is going to be quite costly but if you get people if we develop solar shingles for get people to put solar panels on their houses it's directly attached to the devices that are going to use energy and this is certainly better than some of the subsidies that we are giving now for things that are not going to have as much payoff so i had the question years that seventy five percent of deal is funding towards any solar technology would have to comply with the roadmap commission's decisions and and the members will alter they'll serve for three years and they will they will cycle last allow for new people to come on to the commission it directs the deal way to conduct a research development and demonstration program for solar technologies which would include all the technologies from c s p to photovoltaic hot water to to and we want to be more competitive so the grants can be awarded to academic institutions and national labs federal research agencies state research agencies nonprofit industrial entities and consortia there so it  really is it's a funding mechanism based on where we should be going nationally and we learned so much through the semiconductor process that again to be reinventing the wheel and to have these companies not collaborating cord sets them behind so we don't specifically look at any specific type of technology the roadmap is created through this you know multi member commission to look at all types of research that's available and then grants are awarded you know seventy five percent ramping up to all the daily money just be a hodgepodge of will actually go through this process and allow for better collaboration coordination with the general healed and then i want to respond sort of i think the purpose of this it on your house and so this will make those products available and really it will be up probably to the ways and means committee to provide the tax incentives to allow the products to be integrated on a large scale basis your back thank you and i think both of you for your comments my my point is simply that we have done a lot of research there's a lot of research going on i had encouraged that and i certainly support what you're trying to do but my point is simply that if we were giving the federal government is giving tax credits to people to put a new furnace has to put a new windows etc we as a congress should start thinking seriously about if we're going to do that we should also be supporting alternative forms of energy which may be more efficient way of getting the money out there and using our money rather than just giving tax credits for things which may or may not be good may or may not be necessary ahead of the people who installed my furnace ten years ago talk to me and say hey we get this great tax credit now you really should put in a new furnace and i said well i don't really need it doesn't matter you can get it fifteen hundred dollars off now so i encourage you to do it before it wears out well i hope i have at least another ten fifteen years in the furnace so my point is simply really we ought to be talking about and working with our colleagues and sharing the wisdom of this committee on what tax credits make sense and which ones don't and i recognize it's a ways and means jurisdiction but i think they could benefit from some scientific assistance as well as your back thank you dr  e a had both noted that world oil production had been flat for the last three years and of course with the flat oil production increasing demand that's why always one hundred fifty dollars a barrel now we've had this recession which has bought us some time there's an old saying it's an ill wind that blows no good and one of the few benefits of this recession is that it's bought us some time where we could have a aggressively pursued the development of alternative except for what this committee has done i see little evidence that our country has paid any attention to the necessity of aggressively pursuing alternative energy because the sad fact is that unless we do that the world never ever again will have sustained good times because as soon as the world's economies come back to demand for oil will go up it will be one hundred fifty two hundred two hundred fifty dollars a barrel and that will squelch the economy again so kudos to this committee and sadly i note that our country has taken and the world has taken little advantage of the of the time that's been bought by this recession so thank you very much for what you're doing here thank you doctor others wishing to comment or comment on the bill just briefly i'd like to compliment the sponsor of the bill i think that we in this country need to make solar a legacy piece especially in light of the opportunities that have been showcased in other countries where they're dealing with the solar hot water concepts in germany where they're relying more and more on solar power  and in this nation there are many regions of the country that have more solar power hours than some of these ready emerging nations and so i think the investment in r and d allows us to shave some of the  the option and allows us to take if cap and trade legislation were signed into law would allow us to take much of those resources and piggyback them with this legislative idea and the initiatives there can be very very strong and powerful in talking about the direction this country needs to go and the impact that it needs to make cap and trade legislation coupled with ms giffords legislation would be a powerful statement and so i applaud the  thank you mr taco if there are other any other comments or chairman i'd like to respond to a couple of things very briefly one to respond to mr bartlett mr bartlett before i got to the congress i used to always talk about alternative energy just just like you talked about and you know i've noticed that i had a constituent approach me and said you know what solar and wind and these other types of of energy you know when you call it alternative people think that it's not serious energy so i've really tried to correct myself and refer to them as renewable energy or clean energy because when people are still have this belief out there that it's an alternative but it's some sort of fringe type of energy they don't take the technology is serious you know other countries have moved ahead and they are powering extraordinary amounts of their economy and their innovation and and in looking at their security we're not there yet obviously the leadership of this committee i think will will get there but you know i'd really try to catch myself and and you know in the words matter the second thing taylor's to know as well that part of this the study she's made part of this bill has a photovoltaic performance study that the deal we will actually publish and we're making sure that's published on the internet so that everyone has access to it not just members of congress or it's not going to be just thrown in a drawer somewhere but best practices to improve performance of photovoltaic installations federal state local incentives as well to enhance system performance so we're going to make this all of this work that comes out of the roadmap is as accessible to everyone as possible because that's the way that folks that aren't close to washington aren't close to a deal we lab only able to to benefit from the work that's done by the roadmap committee members and finally i think that i just want members to know that we have done a lot of work and staff has been great on both sides to make sure that department of energy has had their full involvement with the crafting of this legislation we've had the private sector all different types of solar companies manufacturing from c s p to potable takes involved in the drafting of this legislation research institutions as well and the nice thing is that everyone agrees that you know this isn't about one technology or another one company one region it's really about that global road map for us here in the united states to be able to make sure that we take our resources news and while wisely so i just think all the folks that have contributed if there are additional ideas and i know that we have an amendment coming up but we are welcome to incorporate them but it's just the hydro power is sort of energy because the sun evaporates water and it gets something the sky falls behind the dam and you collect energy as it goes through the turbans you go right down the line the only real sources of energy we have  support what you're doing and what you're saying but let's realize the term alternatives doesn't mean much to me as a scientist or to the public as a lay person and if you really want to be serious sa all of these are types of solar collecting on the solar flux that's coming to the earth daily and if you actually sit down and calculate how much energy is contained the sunlight hitting the earth in a day it's  you understand how supportive i am of this legislation you need to know that i in using solar energy electricity for twenty five years in the late seventy's and early eighty's i was a home builder and i built i still own the largest solar home builder in frederick county so i was building solar homes in the late seventy's and early eighty's before it was cool to do that thank you chairman baird ranking member angus as well as renewable sources of energy as a science and engineer i know that any program can be improved if the rules equally reward constant review and incremental improvements as well as their replacement by innovations i support th continuation creation and funding of programs that deal we that will empower america's scientists engineers and entrepreneurs to engage in an accelerated cutting edge research in new technologies i would like to implore and encourage this committee to make sure that the bill this committee will approve takes a technology neutral approach to solar energy research and development programs but there is a danger in explicitly delineating research and known technologies and approaches congress can inadvertently direct the federal government  pursue an industrial policy or corporate welfare approach that would discourage research in new areas that could yield unforeseen benefit i'm sure madame curie could have had no notion where her discovery would would lead to i would also be cautious about empowering a committee to choose winners and losers of taxpayers money by doing so congress can similarly inadvertently direct the flow of money through an old boys network that excludes support for revolutionary innovations and not to my specific my amendment very simply corrects what i am sure was an inadvertent exclusion from the after the h r thirty five eighty five it would extend my and then it would extend section six o five and six o six of the energy independence and security act of the partment of energy solar r and d programs because before they've even been started specifically section six o five it's a direct solar pipe a lighting program that i co sponsored with congressman tom p tribe wisconsin solar lightpipe technology brings  power of sunlight to eliminate the interiors of buildings without electricity they lighting provides an important alternative or traditional power generation for lighting that promotes greater energy conservation and improved energy around s research development and demonstration program to promote more reliable decentralized and distributed and we hope more cost effective solar powered air conditioning for individuals and businesses most people to understand understand that you can cool your house with heat you can you can do that creation of the program as a part of this bill is supported by the solar energy industries association western renewables group austin energy sacramento mean a civil utility district in san diego gas and electric solar derives air conditioning could provide less vulnerable onsite decentralized and distributed cooling reduce peak load electricity man's particularly in desert climates and during the summer as well as contribute to greater resilience of our grid urgent request support of the adoption of this amendment to that to explicitly extend section six zero five and six zero six of in this bill thank you very much is there for the discussion  chairman it's different i appreciate mr bartlett's work and and these were bills that we worked on last couple of years and i appreciate the inclusion and you have terrific ideas and that's what i like about this committee so much it's truly a bipartisan committee everyone's and i had a good conversation afterwards with the staff members who are here and i said i really should learn more about for well they invited me over yesterday i spent almost four hours there talking to them a fascinating thing that you might want to see the chairman of firk has decided that they should lead the way on efficient energy lighting and so his office and all the areas around it have the most advanced  possible so they don't have solar light bulbs but they might try to make max maximum use of the sun's energy coming through the windows they have monitors which measure the ambient light level and they dimmed the lights or turn lights off contain l e d s fairly expensive at this point but extremely energy efficient and so there's so much to be done here and encouraged the chairman to range for any members of the committee are interested take the ovens but in all seriousness one of the things that migrate me about dr bartlett is he has not only talks the talk but he walks the talk and is done so for many many years and so when he speaks about you know maybe we should we should john i just want to and i know i just make sure the that also one of things i've looked at is some of the things that have not worked regarding solar energy and we've i think we've all we're all familiar with the experience of that spain has taxpayer to have to eat a huge chunk of additional cost so i guess and i know that that's always not the intention i just wanna make sure that that we're you know we're on the same track that we're sure that we do research for the good things but that also they look at what worked what has been a fiasco what has been a disaster what has been overly costly what has been ineffective and inefficient and i'm sure that's obviously what the sponsors looking at thank you mr diaz balart are there further discussion of the amendment if no the vote occurs on the the opinion of the chair the eyes have it i now recognize myself for a motion i move that the subcommittee favorably report h r thirty five eighty five is appended to the full maybe for the more i move the staff be instructed to prepare the subcommittee report and make necessary technical and conforming changes to the bill in accordance with the recommendations of the subcommittee the question is on the motion to report the bill favorably those in favor of the motion signify by saying i oppose no the ayes have it the bill is favorably reported without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table members will have two subsequent calendar days in which to submit supplemental minority or additional views on the measure with that i thank my colleagues for their input and the outstanding