Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. I thank the gentleman, Ranking Member Rush, for his leadership on energy solutions for America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the Republican amendment because it is a giveaway to special interests and it is a missed opportunity to craft a bipartisan package of energy policies that meet the challenges of the 21st century and boost America's clean energy economy.

The GOP-led Congress is out of sync with the American public and out of touch with what is happening in electricity generation across America.

The future is about energy efficiency and geothermal, renewables like solar, wind power, and biomass. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says renewable energy is the world's fastest growing energy source.

That means innovative, cost-saving energy investments for our neighbors and businesses back home. That means we are going to create jobs through the clean energy economy and, at the same time, reduce carbon pollution.

Instead, in this amendment, the GOP doubles down on dirty fuel sources. It logrolls 36 bills into a single package that, in many cases, eliminates environmental reviews, and the experts say the bill will actually accelerate climate change.

So if the Republican energy package was a car, it wouldn't just be stuck in neutral, it would be stuck in reverse because it harkens back to the energy policies of decades ago rather than America's growing clean energy economy of the future.

Let's not go backwards. Let's move Americans forward and put money back into the pockets of our hardworking neighbors.

I urge the House to reject the GOP amendment.

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