In Opposition to Anti-Environmental Legislation

Floor Speech

* Mr. PETERS. Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed at what the House Republican Leadership did this week. Unemployment remains above 9%, job growth is sluggish, and we are facing a catastrophic default on our national debt. Yet this past week the Republicans passed three bills that do nothing to create jobs, but instead advance a narrow agenda built on environmental degradation.

* First, the Republicans brought the misguided BULB Act to the floor. The BULB Act was rushed to a vote under the fictional pretense that American families were under the imminent threat of having light bulbs snatched from their homes. The truth is, under President Bush, new energy efficiency standards were adopted for light bulbs with bipartisan support. Incandescent bulbs are not banned, as the floor speeches this week would have you believe, and industry groups like the National Electric Manufacturers Association opposed the BULB Act because it would harm the investments light bulb manufacturers have already made to raise the efficiency of their products. This bill was unhelpful and unwanted and responded only to a problem manufactured in the minds of the political right. The bill fortunately failed on the House floor, but it did not fail in wasting our time.

* We then moved on to the Energy and Water appropriations bill. This bill guts clean energy programs seeking to research and develop new wind and solar technologies while increasing investments for oil and gas companies. It cuts things like advanced vehicle technologies and weatherization assistance, which support good paying jobs in Michigan and elsewhere. The bill also includes language that makes it easier to pollute our drinking water. While many attempts were made to rebalance the bill in a more equitable manner, the Republicans insisted on their support for oil companies earning record profits and turned their backs on advanced energy and science.

* Finally, last week we considered a bill which should be called the ``Dirty Water Act.'' Named instead the Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act, this bill is one of the most brazen attacks on the Clean Water Acts in memory. The bill strips the authority of the Administration to block environmentally harmful projects and enforce water quality standards. The supporters of the bill claim it is the name of states' rights. But dirty water does not stop at state boundaries, which is why the Clean Water Act was created in the first place. We recognized decades ago that patchwork standards and varying state enforcements don't keep our drinking water clean.

* My home state of Michigan relies on billions of dollars in tourism that flow into the state because of the recreational fishing, boating, and beautiful beaches visitors to our state enjoy. These dollars go away if we let our water quality standards slide. My Republican colleagues need to learn that clean water creates jobs, and that a dirty environment kills jobs.

* I opposed all three of the measures considered this week, and hope that the Republican Leadership will stop with these senseless attacks on the environment and instead concentrate on creating jobs for the American people.

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