Advanced Geothermal Innovation Leadership Act of 2019--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. RISCH. Mr. President and fellow colleagues, I come to the floor today to talk about the American Energy Innovation Act, which is here before the Senate and which we are considering this week.

America's energy landscape has changed dramatically since the last major Energy bill was enacted by Congress more than a decade ago. It is time to update our outdated energy policy to reflect today's realities, goals, and challenges in the energy sector.

The American Energy Innovation Act--the business before the Senate today--is the cumulation of more than a year of hearings, business meetings, and negotiations in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. I commend Chairman Murkowski and Ranking Member Manchin for their leadership and all of us on the committee in bringing this strong, bipartisan, ``all of the above'' energy package to the floor.

Included in this legislation are a number of provisions I have proposed that will benefit Idaho and the Nation.

First, the bill appropriately recognizes the importance of having a strong domestic nuclear industry. I represent not just one of the Department of Energy's National Laboratories, but I represent the Nation's flagship nuclear energy laboratory, the Idaho National Lab.

Nuclear power is the Nation's largest source of reliable, carbon-free energy. To date, nuclear powerplants have primarily served one purpose--to produce electricity--but we are discovering through the work at the Idaho National Lab that this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as the work a nuclear reactor could do.

The INL and the Department of Energy are currently working to demonstrate that nuclear reactors can be adapted to produce other products like hydrogen, steam, and, importantly, heat. To accelerate this research, Ranking Member Manchin and I introduced the Integrated Energy Systems Act to help improve the long-term competitiveness of our current fleet of nuclear reactors. That bill is included in the larger bill we have before us.

While we must keep our existing fleet of reactors online, we must also usher in the next generation of advanced nuclear reactor designs. This is particularly exciting at this point in time. The bipartisan Nuclear Energy Leadership Act will address key supply chain and other challenges associated with developing small, modular, micro, and other advanced designs. This act is also included in the larger bill before us today. That bill, NELA, will enable the Federal Government to partner with the private sector to demonstrate and commercialize these technologies, and the INL's National Reactor Innovation Center will play a key role in making these designs a reality.

When looking toward a clean, reliable, and secure energy future, the importance of rare-earth minerals cannot be overstated. In Idaho, we have the Nation's only significant domestic deposit of cobalt--a mineral that is vital for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and military hardware. Yet, instead of mining and processing this mineral in the United States, we import our supply from China.

Cobalt is just one of many minerals the United States relies on imports for. We need to start prioritizing domestic supply and processing our critical minerals for our energy and domestic security future. I appreciate that we have also included this act in the big bill that is in front of us. This is the American Mineral Security Act, and it prioritizes our energy independence.

I am also pleased that the key provisions of my bill, the Enhancing Geothermal Production on Federal Lands Act, were also included. That act is included in the larger bill.

Idaho has long been a world leader in the development of geothermal technologies. In fact, the Idaho State Capital Building is the only State capital in the United States that is heated solely with geothermal energy.

There is significant potential to expand this renewable energy in Idaho and indeed across the Western United States, and most of this potential exists on federally managed lands. Unfortunately, developers looking to harness this resource on Federal lands must navigate a labyrinth of regulations. The provisions in this bill will unleash our Nation's vast geothermal resources by making the current permitting review process more efficient, cost-effective, predictable, and, importantly, take a shorter period of time.

Lastly, I am proud that this legislation contains language from the PROTECT Act that will modernize our electric grid and enhance cyber security efforts. I don't need to spend any time on cyber security. It is important for our electric grid. It is one of the favorite targets of terrorists around the world. They usually go through cyber security.

The worldwide adoption of digital automation technology has created great benefits, but it also introduces significant cyber vulnerabilities to critical energy infrastructure. I am proud that the solutions to many of these challenges are being developed at the Idaho National Laboratory, which is the world leader in critical infrastructure, control systems, and security research in those areas.

Protecting our electric grid is one of the most pressing security challenges, and we must incentivize the energy sector to deploy the most advanced cyber security technologies.

The additional authorities and tools in these bills are critical to both our energy and national security, and I am committed--hopefully along with all of my colleagues here in the Senate--to seeing those matters cross the finish line in this important act, which finally reaches us at this critical time.

With that, I will yield the floor to my distinguished colleague from New Mexico.

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