Maria's Monday Memo

Statement

Maria's Monday Memo

Recovery Act Will Accelerate Clean Up Efforts at Hanford, Move Community Toward Clean Energy Future, and Create Jobs

Last week, I visited with leaders in the Tri-Cities at the Richland Labor Temple to discuss how the $2 billion included in the economic recovery package will accelerate cleanup efforts at the Hanford nuclear site. The additional funding will help move Washington state toward a clean energy future by converting contaminated areas of Hanford into a clean energy park. This will save Washington state over $750 million in future cleanup costs, while help sustaining our economy by creating over 12,400 jobs.

Hanford is expected to receive $2 billion for cleanup efforts and shrink the footprint of contaminated areas from 586 square miles today to 75 square miles by 2015. With this reduced footprint, contaminated areas will more quickly be returned to productive industrial use where the Department of Energy is examining the creation of a Clean Energy Park.

In my new role as Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy, I will continue to discuss with Secretary of Energy Steven Chu the need for a reinvestment in the moral and legal obligation to clean up Hanford.

Cantwell Delivered Keynote Address at Launch of ITA Asia Pacific Partnership Program

On Thursday, I delivered a keynote speech in Spokane marking the launch of the International Trade Alliance (ITA) Asia Pacific Partnership Program with China - an exciting opportunity for the city of Spokane. This new initiative between Spokane, Spokane-based International Trade Alliance, and the U.S. State Department under the auspices of the Asia Pacific Partnership will start a new chapter in the history of the U.S. and China's cooperative relationship.

Spokane and an Asian sister city will partner together to share knowledge, learn from each other, and grow their businesses. Together, they'll address challenges and grasp onto opportunities, all the while tackling some of the world's most pressing problems. They will share best practices in municipal planning and development; promote training programs for green collar jobs; work to expand business relationships relating to clean technology; and identify collaborative R&D opportunities

I am confident that Spokane and its Chinese sister city will achieve results that not only help Spokane top the list of greenest cities in the U.S., but help this nation and China reach its clean energy goals.

I have long supported increased dialogue and cooperation between the U.S. and China on the development and adoption of clean energy technologies. Eastern Washington has been a leader in developing and encouraging new sources of energy and technologies and this program will help support businesses export green technology to the rest of the world and create high-paying long-lasting green-collar jobs.

Recovery Bill Makes Down Payment on Economic Future; Creates Tens of Thousands of Green Jobs

Last Friday, I visited the Port of Vancouver, one of the West Coast's leading importers of the giant wind turbines that harness wind in the Columbia River Gorge, to describe how Clark County stands to benefit from the green energy provisions in the economic recovery package passed by Congress last week. I worked to secure over $11 billion will go toward "smart grid" technologies and funding upgrades to regional and national electric grids, a necessary step in moving power from rural windmills to electricity-hungry urban and suburban areas.

I also worked with Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and other members of the delegation to include $3.25 million in increased borrowing authority for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). This will allow BPA to connect more than 4,700 megawatts of renewable energy to the Northwest transmission grid in the next two years, creating approximately 50,000 green jobs. The green provisions will also expand loan availability to wind energy companies, which expect to import a record number of windmill components this year. With Clark County's unemployment rate hovering around 9 percent, the additional funding to modernize the nation's transmission grid will deploy more long-term green sustainable jobs that cannot be exported oversees.

Cantwell Successfully Keeps Funding Flowing to Affordable Housing Developments in Seattle and Yakima

The road to economic recovery goes through affordable housing, which is critical to the lives of the poor, the disabled and the elderly. On Wednesday, I joined local housing advocates in King County and Yakima to discuss how Washington state will benefit from passage of the economic recovery package. Federal money from the package will help county housing groups deal with the high foreclosure rate. I want to ensure Washington's State and Local Housing Authorities have the resources to repair and make more energy-efficient public housing projects, allow communities to buy and repair foreclosed homes, and help the homeless.

Currently, in Washington, there are 11 housing projects at risk of not having adequate financing; these projects involve 534 units of needed affordable housing. The bill will allow state agencies to fill that financing gap so these projects can continue on schedule. The National Association of Homebuilders estimates that the construction of a 100-unit housing project creates 151 local jobs. By keeping the development of these 534 units in the pipeline, this bill will preserve 801 jobs in the state.

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