U.S. House Majority Leader Hoyer Commends Representative Heinrich On His Leadership On Clean Energy Legislation

Press Release

On Friday, Representative Martin Heinrich (NM-1) voted in favor of H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 219 to 212. Rep. Heinrich, along with Representatives Dina Titus (NV-3) and Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8), was instrumental in amending H.R. 2454 to make it easier for federal agencies to contract with local clean energy producers to buy energy from renewable sources like wind and solar.

In response to the work done by Rep. Heinrich, U.S. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer released the following statement:

"I applaud the work of my colleagues, Representatives Titus, Giffords, and Heinrich, to strengthen the renewable energy provisions that will help create clean energy jobs in the West and across the country. Understanding the tremendous potential of renewable energy sources in their states to jumpstart the economy and power our future, they have worked together with the Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition to craft provisions that will significantly increase the use of renewable power by the federal government. This added demand for renewable energy will reduce costs and create good jobs in emerging industries like solar and wind - resources that are abundant in the Southwest. I congratulate my colleagues for their success in getting this amendment included and thank them for their leadership on this bill."

Rep. Heinrich's amendment is especially important for the first congressional district in New Mexico, with its large federal government presence and a thriving clean energy industry. The language in the amendment would also require federal agencies to get 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources, which is similar to the renewable electricity standard already in the bill.

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