Date: 2007-12-04
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

This bill. when we pass it and send to the President and he signs it. it is just the beginning of this adventure in energy technologies. Earlier this year we passed an innovation bill that dealt with new technologies and encouraging research and development and innovation and discovery. and when we were putting that bill together. we were talking to the CEOs from venture capital companies. from biotech industries. from the hightech industry. And the question came from a lot of people. when you do all this innovation. you make all this effort. training all the engineers and scientists and others. where are the jobs that result? And Craig Barrett. the former CEO of Intel Corporation and other CEOs of the major tech companies of this country chimed in and said you make an investment. the government must make an investment in energy. That will drive the next generation of technology comparable to the kinds of technologies we saw with that investment in telecommunications. in computers. in the Internet and all the things that resulted from that. Their first choice for that. to drive that technology would be energy and the need that this country and other countries are going to have to develop these sources ofenergy. Again. I want to thank the gentleman for all of the work he did. I know how hard he worked. especially on that provision of the bill for the renewable energy standards that are in this legislation. I thank him for his effort on that and- also on the Apollo project that kicked off a great part of this debate in the Congress. H14142 cc . What a difference a year makes. Under Republican rule. it took three sessions of Congress just to finish an energybill that subsidized pollution and Hummers. But after just 1 year of the new Democratic leadership. .te are replacing those subsidies with groundbreaking steps to increase the efficiency of our vehicles. to lower energy costs. to create new jobs. and to combat global warming. Fuel Economy. -The historic fuel economy compromise is supported by labor. the environmental community. and the automobile industry. This is the first increase by Congress since 1975. The bill will increase fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 for new cars and trucks. These provisions will save American families $700 to $1000 per year at the pump. with $22 billion in net consumer savings in 2020 alone. It will reduce oil consumption by 1.1 million gallons per day in 2020 (onehalf of what we currently import from the Persian Gulf). and reduce greenhouse gases equal to taking 28 million of todays average cars and trucks off the road. Renewable electricity standards. This provision requires utility companies to generate 15 percent of electricity from renewable sourcessuch as wind power. biomass. wave. tidal. geothermal and solarby 2020. .Green Jobs. This package creates an Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Worker Training Program to train a quality workforce for "green collar" jobssuch as solar panel manufacturer and green building construction worker--created by federal renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives. Major. investments in renewable energy could create 3 million green jobs over 10 years. Thanks to the leadership in the House by HILDA SOLIS and JOHN TIERNEY. we reported this legislation from the Education and Labor Committee. In the Senate. this important provision has been championed by BERNIE SANDERS and others. Energy efficiency. The bill includes landmark energy efficiency provisions that save consumers and businesses hundredsof billions of dollars through 2030. The bill will assist those who want to make their homes and offices more energy efficient. and it creates new energyefficient appliance standards. This reflects the successful model pursued by the State of California: cutting greenhouse gas emissions and investing in renewables will lead to economic growth.