Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I thank the chair of the committee for his focus and hard work on behalf of our environment and on behalf of reversing climate change and on behalf of the health and welfare of the American people.

The global climate crisis is one of the greatest challenges of our time. We must confront climate change, and an essential part of that is investing in clean energy innovation.

This alone is certainly not going to be enough to address the climate crisis we face, but it is a critical step forward that we can and must take now. That is why House Democrats are bringing forward the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act today.

I am sorry this is not a bipartisan bill because, like COVID-19, climate change is not a partisan issue. It should not be a partisan issue.

This legislation represents progress in the fight against the climate crisis. It represents a significant investment in clean energy infrastructure and job creation.

In addition to investing in clean energy production, distribution, and storage, this legislation sets new energy efficiency standards--I believe my Republican colleagues are for that; I hope they are for that--for buildings and provides funding for homes, schools, manufacturing facilities, and public buildings to upgrade and improve energy efficiency. That is in everybody's best interests.

This bill makes bold investments in wind and solar and advanced nuclear technologies, of which I am a very strong supporter, and in helping to decarbonize the fossil fuel sector.

If we hope to meet the targets that climate scientists say are necessary to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate change, many of which we are seeing as we speak today on the floor of this House, we are going to need to employ all of these technologies.

Recognizing the need to fight for environmental justice, the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act prioritizes the needs of those living on the front lines of the climate crisis, including minority, Tribal, and low-income communities. They can't protect themselves. They don't have the dollars to do so. It is up to us to make sure that they are protected.

We are also creating a clean energy workforce development program, championed by my dear friend Bobby Rush, to train workers to succeed and help America lead the clean energy revolution.

While the Trump administration cedes the race to being a world leader, withdrawing from all the other nations of the world that have a consensus that we need to deal with climate change and we need to deal with it together, we withdraw from that agreement.

We need to make sure that we continue to be a world leader in the clean energy economy to our foreign competitors. This bill seizes the moment and takes advantage of the economic opportunities that come from taking a bold approach to the global climate crisis. House Democrats recognize that you can't lead the clean energy economy if you refuse to believe that cleaner energy is necessary.

Until we get serious about the dangers of the climate crisis, America will be unable to take advantage of its economic opportunities. That is why, Madam Speaker, this bill is so very important and why I am urging all of my colleagues to join in supporting it.

Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Frank Pallone of the Energy and Commerce Committee; Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of the Science, Space, and Technology Committee; and Chairman Raul Grijalva of the Natural Resources Committee for working so hard to bring this legislation together and advance it to the floor.

Many of these bills that are incorporated here, I think, have Republican support, and this bill ought to have Republican support.

Madam Speaker, I thank all the Democratic members of those committees and Republicans who tried to work constructively and the bill sponsors for their hard work and contributions to this legislation.

Today, the Democratic-led House, Madam Speaker, is doing its job for the people by supporting the development of a clean energy economy and taking important steps to tackle the climate crisis in a serious way that creates jobs and opportunities for our workers.

During the civil rights era, there was a movie, ``Mississippi Burning.'' It had an effect of us addressing systemic racism in America.

Now, much of America, millions of acres, are burning at historic levels. Storms in the Gulf are occurring at historic levels. Storms in the Atlantic along the Atlantic Coast and twisters in the Midwest are occurring at historic levels. It is not appropriate for us to say, as the President said on COVID-19 and the deaths that occurred, ``It is what it is.''

We are here, Madam Speaker, because, when we see that what it is is not right, we ought to act, and that is what we are doing.

Madam Speaker, I hope my colleagues will vote ``yes'' for a cleaner environment, a safer environment, a healthier environment, and a more prosperous and successful America.

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