Dorgan and Hoeven Say Increased State Renewable Energy Efforts Can Help Drive America Toward Energy Independence

Press Release

DORGAN AND HOEVEN SAY INCREASED STATE RENEWABLE ENERGY EFFORTS CAN HELP DRIVE AMERICA TOWARD ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

At a press conference discussing their Renewable Fuels Action Summit today, Senator Byron Dorgan and Governor John Hoeven emphasized North Dakota's potential role in helping to break America's dependence on foreign energy. Right now, the country is two-thirds dependent on foreign sources of energy.

"This summit meeting will be an exciting exchange of ideas about the future of renewable energy development and how our state can capitalize on it," Senator Dorgan said. "North Dakota is the Saudi Arabia of wind, and we produce more crops that could be used for biofuels than any other place in the world. Our state has the potential to produce more renewable energy than any other state, but to do so we need to pursue aggressive business investment and public policy. We can be a leader in the effort to shed our dependence on foreign energy and produce good-paying, ‘green collar' jobs here at the same time."

"Whether it is wind power, biofuels, hydrogen or biomass, renewable energy creates jobs, grows our economy and helps make our nation safer," Governor Hoeven said. "Our experts today are giving us some of the keys to drive technology forward, do more with renewable energy and reduce our dependency on foreign oil."
At the press conference, Senator Dorgan and Governor Hoeven were accompanied by Dr. Steve Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist. Dr. Chu is an expert in carbon emissions. He is the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor of microbiology and physics at Berkeley. Dr. Chu spoke at the Summit earlier today as the event's keynote speaker, highlighting his most recent research efforts.

Other speakers throughout the day will host discussions and workshops on topics such as biodiesel, carbon capture technology and wind energy.

The 2008 Renewable Fuels Action Summit is part of Senator Dorgan's Great Plains Energy Corridor. This initiative is aimed at bolstering energy production in North Dakota to create good-paying jobs and to help America reduce its dependence on foreign sources of energy.

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