Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my amendment to H.R. 4447, the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act.

This commonsense amendment clarifies that energy saved through the use of geothermal pumps qualifies as renewable energy produced for the purposes of this bill.

Battling climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions will require an innovative, multi-pronged approach.

And geothermal pump technology must be a tool available for us to use.

Geothermal pumps work to reduce energy consumption by transferring and concentrating heat energy absorbed from the earth.

These installations can reduce energy use in buildings by over 40 percent.

My amendment clarifies that these energy savings count as renewable energy produced, recognizing that geothermal pumps remain a critical part of our effort to reduce emissions and defeat climate change.

I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of my amendment.

This amendment requires the establishment of a reliability standard, within the Federal Power Act, relating to extreme weather events. It directs the Department to create a program and publish a report, on ways to improve the resiliency of electrical grids.

Over the past year my District and others across the State of California have experienced many of these power shutoffs due to extreme weather events--such as wildfires. These shutoffs hurt local businesses, leave thousands in the dark, and put the medically vulnerable at great risk.

The federal government must step up to ensure the U.S. electrical grid is more resilient. We must provide states and local utilities the resources they need to reliably provide power to our communities.

I urge an Aye vote on this amendment to help communities like mine and all the others affected by severe weather.

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