Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act of 2019

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of two amendments to H.R. 4447, the Clean Energy Jobs and Innovation Act. I am honored to represent Virginia's 3rd Congressional District, which is on the front lines of sea-level rise. Recognizing the urgent action needed to mitigate the worst of the climate crisis, I am pleased that this bill includes support for climate-informed building codes to improve energy efficiency as well as resilience, issues on which Norfolk, Virginia is leading the way. My district is also home to the Port of Virginia and other facilities--as well as workers--that played a critical role in installing the first offshore wind turbines in federal waters this summer. On and offshore, wind energy presents an incredible opportunity to generate clean, renewable energy, and to create good, green, family-sustaining jobs in Hampton Roads and across the country.

I was pleased to submit an amendment encouraging the use of modeling and simulation technologies in wind energy, along with Representative Stephanie Murphy. As co-chairs of the Congressional Modeling and Simulation Caucus, we submitted this amendment to support the development and deployment of modeling and simulation tools to aid in rapidly transitioning our economy away from fossil fuels. Modeling and simulation have been very thoughtfully incorporated into many aspects of this bill--ensuring technologies are effectively deployed, risks to our electric grid are understood, and community resilience is enhanced. Modeling and simulation technologies also have incredible potential to contribute to every step of wind energy generation: the design and siting of turbines, wind power forecasting, construction of turbines, and even projecting the need for turbine maintenance and repair. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment to increase our understanding of each of these areas.

I also rise in support of my amendment which would support research into rethinking, reducing, and reusing critical materials in wind energy. The widespread deployment of current wind energy technology requires aluminum and rare-earth elements. The increasing demand for these elements and issues within their supply chains is a concern for all of us concerned about the environment, human rights, and our clean energy future to action. For years, the Department of Energy has acknowledged that ``supply challenges'' for certain rare earth metals could negatively affect clean energy technology development. The United States is currently largely dependent on other nations, especially China, for rare earth minerals. These minerals may not be quite as finite as their name implies; however, they are generally difficult to mine and require extensive processing. In some places, the industry lacks protections for workers and the environment, jeopardizing communities' drinking water and soil. We can alleviate these concerns by investing in research to rethink turbine design, reduce the use of such materials, and reuse products which are no longer need. Wind energy prices have fallen significantly fallen in the past decade. The levelized cost, which does not account for federal tax credits, decreased from about $90 per megawatt-hour to $30 per megawatt-hour last year. This is an exciting and encouraging trend for consumers, our climate, and communities, like Hampton Roads, that are both threatened by climate change and poised to create good green wind energy jobs. This amendment would facilitate research on the reuse of such materials and the design of turbines that require less of these materials, ensuring that this trend towards more affordable wind energy continues. In addition to creating jobs here in the United States, supporting the future of wind energy ensures that Americans will have increasing access to energy that is clean, renewable, reliable, and affordable.

I urge my colleagues to support these amendments.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source