New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act
Floor Speech
NEW DIRECTION FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gracious gentleman from Texas for yielding.
I rise to support this amendment.
As the gentleman from Delaware indicated, 2 years ago Congress authorized the development of renewable energy from wind and wave and tidal sources in Federal waters, and the Department of the Interior was instructed to establish a program in a uniform set of standards. This initiative was based on the successful example of European countries that are now developing thousands of megawatts of clean, renewable energy from their coastal waters.
In Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain, efforts are well under way to identify offshore renewable energy sites with clear standards to protect the environment, wildlife and mariners and to provide companies with a set of guidelines to develop these areas.
With respect to offshore wind energy, Germany has already zoned much of the North Sea to tap into 25,000 megawatts of energy in the next 20 years. Most of these projects are in deep water, far offshore, and using technologies that create thousands of jobs.
Here in the United States, our coastal waters have the potential to generate close to 900,000 megawatts of energy, and much of this is also in deep water. That is an amount that is close to today's electric capacity for the entire Nation. We have the technology, the capital, and the skilled labor to develop a significant amount of this energy. We could become the Saudi Arabia of wind.
However, what we lack is the Interior Department's program. After 2 years, we don't even have a draft set of guidelines.
There are reports that the Interior Department in this initiative is underfunded, that the studies we have called for have not been done, and that the dedicated staff is overworked. We needed to step in now and do what we can to help this effort succeed.
This amendment will help accomplish that goal. I commend my friend and colleague from Delaware, and I urge its adoption.
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